


The Accidental Spy

by BookJQ36



Series: The adventures of Malcolm Reed and my OFC [2]
Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-24
Updated: 2013-03-11
Packaged: 2018-08-15 16:58:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8064670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookJQ36/pseuds/BookJQ36
Summary: An away mission which starts out well rapidly goes off the rails and the away team must think quickly if they want to get out in one piece.





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, after letting this story sit dormant for two years, I'm finally overhauling it. I've been editing it on and off on my PC but until now the updates haven't been uploaded here. Please read and review, I'm anxious to hear what people have to say about this story! I started writing it in 2006 (when I was still in highschool) and I only figured out how to end it this year. That'll teach me to write without an outline... Reconciling the changes in my writing style over the five intervening years was less daunting that I'd thought it would be, but with no Beta, the process has been slooow.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> ~BookQ

 

* * *

 

Ship's Armory, F Deck, 1320 hours, August 16 2151

"No, no, no, ensign." Lieutenant Reed sighed, shaking his head at the young woman standing in front of him. He pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers, praying that he would be able to get through this training session without biting Jean's head off. She had asked him to train her in the proper use of their new side arms, the phase pistols, and he had been glad to do it. She was always an eager and quick student, but so far her usual aptitude for learning about the weapons systems had been oddly absent.

"I specifically instructed you to set the weapon to 'stun', but you had it on 'kill'. If those had been live rounds, Mr. Tucker and a repair team would need to spend a day down here replacing those shelving units."

Jean stared at the floor and tucked an errant wisp of hair behind her ear, shifting uncomfortably under her friend's disapproving gaze. "I'm sorry, sir."

Reed let out anouther breath, sounding less frustrated but still very unhappy. "You can drop the 'sir', Jean, I just want you to learn the proper way to use these weapons. You don't want to end up killing someone by mistake, do you?"

She looked up at him, chewing on her lip nervously. "No, of course not. I justâ€¦ I'm having trouble remembering which setting is which."

Reed nodded, taking the pistol from her. She watched very closely as he opened it, checking the charge on the powercell, and then closed it again, setting the small knob on the weapon to point away from the end of the barrel.

"Alright, Jean, I've set it to stun. Lets try this again."

He handed the weapon back to her and she took it sheepishly, not meeting his gaze for too long.

"I don't know what's wrong with me today." She shrugged, sighting along the snubbed barrel of the pistol. "Maybe I've used up all the space in my head that's reserved for weapons and tactics."

Reed shook his head, smiling at her and admiring her firing stance. "Nonsense. You're just having an off day. It happens to the best of us."

She lowered the weapon slightly and grinned back at him, an evil glint in her eye. "At least we're not in a pod on the bottom of an alien lake."

He paused in the middle of activating the hovering holo-target to let his head drop back and emit a quiet groan. "That was no simple 'off day'. That was a disaster."

Jean chuckled. "But you came through." She stepped a bit closer to him, allowing the weapon to point at the floor so she wouldn't shoot him by accident, and tentatively rested a hand on his arm. "I've never been prouder of you."

Reed turned around partway to face her. She was standing mere inches away, her hand still softly grasping his arm. His breath caught for a moment, but before he could speak, a voice rang out from the comm. panel.

"Archer to Lieutenant Reed."

He swallowed, shooting her an apologetic look before reaching for the comm. "Reed here."

"We've just detected a planet along our present course, and we should be within scanning range by aproximately 1800 hours tonight. Since there may be sentient life and man-made satelites in the vicinity, I'd like you to come up to the bridge to monitor any vessels we might come across."

Reed nodded at the comm. panel, even though part of him knew that doing it was a useless gesture. After all, the captain could only hear and not see him. "Understood sir. On my way."

He closed the channel and turned back to Jean, regretting that the lesson and their brief moment of closeness had been cut short. "Would you mind if we rescheduled this for another time?"

She favored him with a grin, tapping a finger on her chin in mock-thoughtfulness. "I don't know, sir. My schedule is pretty fullâ€¦"

He tried not to smirk at the gentle ribbing but couldn't help himself. "You are being awfully cheeky to your superior officer, Ensign."

Jean moved over to the weapons cabinet, removing the powercell from the pistol and putting both components away in their proper places. "My superior by virtue of rank, if nothing else."

Reed chuckled at the quote, shaking his head as he put away the holo-emitter. "I'll see you for a late dinner in the mess, say around 2100?"

"Sounds good," she nodded. "I'll see you then."

Bridge, A Deck, 1730 hours, August 16, 2151

T'pol looked up from her instruments. "It appears to be a Minshara class planet."

The captain swiveled his chair towards her, a large smile spreading across his face. "Lifesigns?"

T'pol inclined her head in confirmation. "Approximately 530 million."

Reed's hands flew over his console, adjusting various screens and taking note of scanner inputs. "There are a fair number of spacecraft and artificial satelites in orbit, but none of them have weapons which could do Enterprise any harm."

Archer inched forward to the edge of his chair, eyes dancing with delight. "What kind of transmissions are you picking up, Hoshi?"

The young comm. officer held one hand to her earpiece, a pleased smile steadily growing on her face. "Highband EM frequencies," her eyes went wide as she tied in the UT and one word suddenly translated into English. She turned to face the captain, blinking rapidly. "They're discussing warp technology."

Reed frowned slightly. "Oddâ€¦"

"What is it, Mr. Reed? Some kind of problem?" Archer sighed to himself, not terribly surprised that his Tactical Officer had found something to be concerned about.

"Oh," Reed looked up from his muttering, quickly shaking his head to dispell the captain's concern. "Nothing like that, sir, but I'm not detecting any launch platforms in orbit, and none of the ships within scanning range appear to have more than impulse drives."

Archer's brow furrowed. "That is odd."

He glanced across the bridge to where Sub-commander T'pol was checking her own readings. "My scans confirm Lieutenant Reed's findings." She looked up at the captain. "Based on the information I have gathered, I suspect that this civilization is in the process of deveolping warp drive. The energy signatures which I'm detecting indicate that they have the technology to contain and utilize anti-matter in small quantitiesâ€¦ not unlike the amounts which would have been available on Earth shortly before Zephram Cochran launced the Phoenix."

Archer stood up, pacing forward to get a better look at the viewscreen. "Still, it would probably be better if we didn't announce ourselves." He spared a glance at Sub-commander T'pol. "Let's try to avoid cultural contamination. We'll send down a team of four; myself, Trip, and Malcolm. Mr. Reed, notify the quartermaster that we'll be needing four sets of clothing by morning. We'll pick them up first thing tomorrow, and then head down to Sickbay so Phlox can disguise the team as locals. Once you get to the launch bay, prep a shuttle pod."

Reed nodded, a smile creeping onto his face as an idea occurred to him. "With your permission, sir, I'd like to recommend Ensign Olenick for this mission."

The captain nodded, smiling a little. The fact that Reed and the ensign were close hadn't escaped him, and he idly wondered if she had put Reed up to making his recommendation. "Sounds reasonable. Besides, since we seem to be needing a medical officer more and more on our missions, she'll be good to have along. Just in case."

Beta shift took over bridge duties at 2000 hours, but Hoshi stayed on the bridge, fascinated by the myriad alien dialects the transciever was picking up. Every so often, she would press a hand to her earpiece, smile or take a sharp breath, and then hit a few buttons and repeat the process. T'pol stayed as well, dutifully performing detailed scans of the planet. Once Travis had put them into a high but stable orbit, the captain gave him permission to grab some dinner in the mess. Reed left his station soon after that, also with permission. Although his shift was over for the day, he might come back up to the bridge at some point, just to see if any new developments had come to light. The door to the turbo lift closed behind him and Reed grinned to himself as he hit the button which would take him to E Deck, which housed the mess hall. He couldn't wait to tell Jean the good news.


	2. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my first ever Enterprise fic. It originally started with the second chapter, and I added the current first chapter as an afterthought nearly a year later. That was a few summers ago, and now I'm champing at the bit for some feedback. Please read and comment!

  
Author's notes: This was my first ever Enterprise fic. It originally started with the second chapter, and I added the current first chapter as an afterthought nearly a year later. That was a few summers ago, and now I'm champing at the bit for some feedback. Please read and comment!  


* * *

Launch Bay One, F Deck, 0930 hours, August 16 2151

"So, what do you think?" She twirled on the narrow metal catwalk, creating a breeze which gently lifted her skirt into the air and caused the fabric to flare and spread out.

She was wearing a cream-colored bodice which laced up in front, revealing the pale green of her loose tunic between the laces. The tunic's sleeves flowed down to just past her elbows, ending in soft furls of fabric which brushed against her skin whenever she moved. Her skirt was floor length, a deep wine color and some parts of the fabric were translucent, revealing the curve of her legs.

But the skirt wasn't what the men reacted to. Their attention was focused on her bodice; more specifically, on the fact that it was rather low cut and revealed a good five centimeters of cleavage.

Trip's jaw practically hit the deck plating and he was speechless for a while, but it only took Reed a few moments to find his voice. "You look. . . amazing."

A grin splashed across her face. "Thank, sir. You look pretty good yourself."

He did, too. Reed had on fairly loose brown pants, a leather belt and a red tunic which laced up slightly at the neck. Trip was wearing the same basic outfit as Reed but his tunic was a dark bluish green and a leather strap was fastened diagonally across his chest from one shoulder to his belt. Both of them looked very good, almost like they belonged at some slightly off renaissance fair.

When Trip finally spoke, it wasn't what she had hoped to hear. "Are y' sure dressin' like that is such a good idea?"

She gave him an annoyed look and put one hand on her hip, taking the liberty to tut him in a disapproving way.

"You were expecting me to dress like a nun? Sir, you should know me better than that by now."

Trip looked over to Reed for support. "Well, ensign, it might cause some complications . . . "

"Am I interrupting anything?"

Captain Archer came into the launch bay wearing a purple-gray tunic and the same type of brown pants as the other men. There was a knowing expression on his face and Trip could tell that he was holding back a big grin.

The Captain loved exploring new planets and, even though it was silly, he and the rest of the crew enjoyed having to go incognito. Most of them hadn't played dress-up since they were kids, so now every time they had to wear what Sub-commander T'pol called 'indigenous apparel' the crewmen who were chosen for the away team would act like it was Halloween.

Trip grinned after looking Archer up and down. "You look good, Cap'n. The pod's been prepped already, we just needed the pilot to show up."

They all boarded the shuttle pod and flew down to the planet, landing a few kilometers outside the city and then heading towards it on foot, trying to work out their cover story on the way.

They decided to say that their group was visiting the capital as part of a tour for the benefit of a baron's daughter who was about to enter an arranged marriage and wanted to do some traveling before her wedding. The men were supposed to be her bodyguards on this trip since that was the only appropriate reason for a young unmarried woman of rank to be traveling with three men.

Although this planet was technologically advanced their society was at a stage of development comparable to fifteenth century Earth. This wasn't the first time the crew had encountered this kind of incongruity, but most of the worlds they had seen so far had developed along similar lines to Earth's history, with social, scientific and technological strides being made during certain periods of general growth and awakening. For example, the Renaissance, American and French Revolutions and the Industrial Revolution.

This was no stone-age society; they had some nuclear and combustion-powered spaceflight but no warp engines, although they seemed fairly close to developing the technology. Taking this into consideration T'pol had recommended that the away team try to stay inconspicuous while they observed the planet's inhabitants, so the team needed a convincing story if anyone asked where they were from, what their occupations were, etc.

Once they got into the city they split into two groups, Jean and Reed in one and Archer and Trip in the other. After walking around for a while and looking in various shops Archer and Trip found themselves outside a small cantina. Theyâ€™d seen people gathering together and moving towards the center of town and were eager to find out what it was all about.

Jean and Reed had followed a group which joined the dancing at what appeared to be a town festival. They stood at the edge of the area where the dancers were for some time, studying the steps and moves of the dance, and after a while she nudged him with her elbow. "Do you think we could join in?"

"I'm not sure," he looked around at the dancers and then at the crowd. "It seems that anyone is welcome to dance, but I certainly don't know the steps."

She nodded and smiled. "Nor do I. We'll watch them for a few minutes to try and learn, and then we'll see if we can join in. If we get stuck during the dance, we could always just start waltzing." 

He laughed shortly and shook his head. "You really are quite insane."

She kept smiling and started studying the dancers more carefully. "But I'm sure you mean that as a complement."

"Oh, of course." She glanced over at him and saw that his eyes were twinkling.

When the current song ended some dancers left the center of the circle and others came to the middle. Taking this as their cue, Jean and Reed joined hands and stepped into the center. They looked around quickly to see how the other pairs started. It seemed that the women held part of their skirt and their partner's left hand in their right hand. The woman's free hand went on the back of the man's neck, and the man's right hand held the woman's waist.

The steps weren't too hard to follow but every so often they would do a step from a waltz or some other dance just for fun. After a while they were swept up in the music and the dancing, and a couple of times they almost forgot what they were really doing there.

At one point in the song some of the dancers switched partners. Others pairs stayed together and Jean didn't want to switch, so when a Chalderean man and his partner came up to them Jean hissed in Reed's ear. _"Don't let go of me.â€_ He nodded very slightly and held onto her waist more tightly.

"Terribly sorry, but we're not ready to exchange partners." The man nodded and he and his partner continued dancing together.

Jean shifted her hand in his very slightly to give him an affectionate squeeze. "Thanks."

He nodded again and loosened his hold on her waist slightly. "Anytime, ensign. Shall we keep dancing?"

"Until the song ends. Maybe longer."

Suddenly, the men all lifted their female dance partners up into the air and did a full three-sixty turn before setting the women down on their feet again. Fortunately Reed was only a split second behind the rest of the men in the lifting so they didn't stand out very much. When he put her down again she was practically beaming and he smiled knowingly at her.

"Having fun, ensign?"

She laughed quietly "Yes sir, I am. Sir, did you see how the dance ends?"

Reed cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably and nodded. "I did."

She shook her head and gave him a reassuring half-smile. "Don't worry, sir. I'll behave if you will."

"Good." He noticeably relaxed after that and before too long they were enjoying themselves again. Sometime later they heard a familiar theme in the song.

"Isn't this what they played a little while before that lifting move?"

Jean nodded. "I think you're right. Get ready. . ."

This time Reed was perfectly in time with the rest of the men, lifting and turning and then setting Jean down again, and again she looked positively thrilled afterwards. 

Reed softy cleared his throat. "I believe we have an audience." Reed nodded over Jean's shoulder, indicating that she should turn, but then he decided to swing her around as part of the dance. They spun around and she looked over his shoulder. She saw Captain Archer and Commander Tucker standing in the ring of spectators around the dance floor with looks of supreme amusement on their faces.

"Well, we should give them something to watch, don't you think?"

She grinned evilly at Reed and he nodded in agreement, taking the cue to try a few steps before he dipped her. They danced until the song ended, throwing in fancy turns and dips every once in a while and then stopping along with the rest of the dancers as the music slowed.

All of the pairs moved closer together as the music became softer and slower. The partners inclined their heads towards each other and leaned in for a kiss. True to her word, Jean simply pressed her lips to Reed's for a second and then broke away to curtsey to him as he bowed to her, blushing slightly.

As they pulled apart a look of recognition washed over Jean's face and she exclaimed softly "I remember you!"

Ever since survival training sheâ€™d associated a feeling of familiarity with Reed but she hadn't been able to place it. Now, all it took was a polite peck to bring the memory rushing back.

Five years earlier they had flirted and kissed in a bar in Kent where she and a small group of friends had been performing; she'd been attracted to him and he to her and theyâ€™d ended up sitting together talking for almost two hours. She smiled at the memory but knew that Reed probably didn't remember that night, and she had no intention of reminding him. He was a quiet guy and he'd only just started to come out of his shell around her. Learning about what happened in that bar years ago would only send him right back into his self-inflicted seclusion. She didn't want that to happen.

Reed looked at her, puzzled and more than a little surprised. "Ensign?"

"During survival training I mentioned that you seemed awfully familiar and you said that I seemed familiar too, but neither one of us could say why. I just remembered the reason why." 

"Well?" He looked so eager to know the reason behind the familiarity, so honestly curious that she couldn't resist messing with him just a little. _I won't tell him, but that doesn't mean I can't tease him._

She shook her head, still holding one of his hands in hers and smiling as she led him off of the dance floor. "You're not ready to know. Not yet."

It was his turn to shake his head. â€œMinx.â€

They left the dance floor as the next song began and went over to their officers who were grinning in a very confused sort of way.

Archer shook his head, looking incredibly amused by the whole thing. He cleared his throat and tried to wipe the smile from his face. It didnâ€™t work. "So you like being lifted, ensign?"

She shrugged but couldn't manage to stop grinning. "What can I say sir? I just love flying."

Trip stepped forward, making a small bow and smiling hugely. "May I have this dance?"

"If you don't mind, Commander, I'd like to get some actual exploring done today." 

Trip turned to Archer and nodded reluctantly. "Aye, Cap'n."

As they walked away from the crowd Jean fell back a few steps so she could talk to Trip. She touched his arm gently. "If the dancing's still going on when we come back this way I'd be happy to dance with you."

He grinned and thanked her, then nodded towards Reed. "You'd better get back to your dancing partner, you don't want him to get lonely." He teased her gently and earned himself a not so gentle nudge in the ribs.

She picked up the pace and caught up with Reed in a few short strides. He noticed her at his elbow and smiled, holding his arm out for her to take. "Did you miss me, sir?"

"Horribly." He gave her a sideways look as she took his arm. "What was that all about?"

Reed was looking from her to Trip quizzically. "There's a bit of a history there, but nothing ever happened between us. I'll tell you about it later if you're interested."

He looked at her warily and then glanced briefly at Commander Tucker, trying to not think about it. Two of his colleagues, an officer and his friend . . . it didn't bear thinking about.

"I'll pass on that."

The away team spread out in two different directions in their pairs, observing people and scanning them surreptitiously. Jean gradually moved away from Reed after slipping her arm out of his. A peculiar building near an alleyway caught her interest and she decided to investigate. Sheâ€™d only been taking scans for a minute when two dark shapes appeared out of the shadows and rushed towards her. One clamped a hand over her mouth so she couldn't yell for help and the other threw her over his shoulder and made to carry her off.

She struggled but the men were strong and they held her firmly. Desperate to be heard she bit down hard on the hand covering her mouth and blindly grabbed at the first thing her hand fell on, which happened to be part of Reed's shirt, and called out to him. "Help me sir!"

In the darkness he could just barely make out her panicked expression as a pair of shadowy figures grabbed at her and dragged her off down an alleyway. He called to the other officers as he ran after her around a corner. "Captain! Commander!"

Archer and Trip followed him as he ran down the alleyway and then disappeared into the darkness.


	3. Downhill

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read and comment! I hope you enjoy it!

  
Author's notes: Please read and comment! I hope you enjoy it!  


* * *

Somewhere on Chalderon IV, 1435 hours, August 16 2151

After a seemingly endless forced march through a maze of corridors, sloping passages and sudden turns, the three men were brought to a halt and forced to the ground. They were left alone momentarily by their armed sheppards, grateful for the opportunity to rest after several hectic and confusing hours.

Blindfolds were removed from their eyes and they blinked in the sudden light. As the starbursts cleared and their eyes started to adjust, they saw that they were in a large cavern-like room. Because it was windowless and lighted by torches mounted on the clay walls, the room seemed to be underground. Coarse ropes bound their hands behind their backs and armed guards stood nearby, making sure that they were quiet and stayed put. Towards the center of the room on a dais stood a group deep in conference. It was difficult to tell how large the group was because they seemed to move in the flickering torchlight.

After looking carefully at the group for a few moments, Reed saw a familiar face. "Captain," he said, indicating the huddled figures "I think Ensign Olenick is over there with them."

Archer spotted her and breathed a sigh of relief. A few hours earlier the Ensign was abducted. She managed to alert the rest of the away team as she was being dragged off, and they spent almost two hours looking for her before they themselves were captured.

"Malcolm, can you tell whether she's alright?"

Reed craned his neck and squinted against the shifting light. "She's not tied up, sir, and she seems unharmed. It looks like she's standing and talking to them."

As he spoke one of the guards moved towards them. Seeing this, Reed fell silent and watched to see what the guard was doing. He moved behind the prisoners and began adjusting their bonds. He loosened the ropes binding their hands together then moved away and stood farther off than before.

"Looks like she's puttin' in a good word for us," Trip said, smiling and moving his hands. Reed flexed his wrists experimentally and shook his head, looking doubtful. "Yes, but how did she manage that? It doesnâ€™t make sense to capture someone and then follw their advice."

The group on the dais dispersed and several people started walking towards the hostages. Archer took this in and muttered to his officers "we're about to find out."

An officious looking man with a tall staff and greenish robes stopped walking and stood in front of the three men. He was older than anyone else in the group and he had a dusting of silver in his hair and short beard. Although he was obviously a person of importance, he seemed more kindly than pompous, like someone they could reason with. He looked them over carefully as though he was deciding how to treat them before speaking.

"I am Princep Lorristor. Jaeen has told me that until a short time ago you were her superiors. Now it seems that the roles are reversed, and she will decide what happens to you. I hope, for your sakes, that you have not mistreated her."

One of the men standing beside the speaker cleared his throat. This man was considerably younger than the Princep and of medium build, but somehow his body was all angles. Even his voice was hard and sharp, so much so that when he spoke the comparatively soft words of the Princep seemed to be pierced by them and diminish in size. The Princep looked sideways at the younger man as he stepped forward, clearly wanting him to remain quiet, but the younger man ignored the look and spoke up.

"Actually Princep Lorrister, as Defense Chief I will decide their fate. We have no record of these men and I advise that we treat them as spies and hold them for questioning. We don't know who Jaeen really is either, or whether she intends to help us or to harm us. Weapons were found on her 'oppressors,' along with other instruments which she hasn't identified. For all we know, she could interfere on behalf of these men to stop us from acquiring new technology. I think that we should test her loyalty to us."

The Princep sighed and nodded reluctantly after giving Jean and the rest of the away team an apologetic look. He then faced the sharp man and said sadly, as though it was only a formality, "Very well, Rostin. So be it."

During this entire exchange Archer had been glancing at Jean every so often to gauge her reactions to what was being said. Judging by the look on her face, sheâ€™d anticipated something like this, and Archer knew that she was playacting as other crewmembers had been forced to do in dangerous situations. He knew that now she needed to do some quick thinking and hoped that sheâ€™d be able to gain the sharp man's trust. Jean was thinking the same thing and trying to prepare for whatever test was chosen.

The Princep cleared his throat half-heartedly and changed his grip on the staff before speaking. "Which one of you is the leader?"

Reed and Trip looked to Archer for some cue but neither said a word. To Archer, being the captain meant that he was responsible for the safety of his crew, so he wouldnâ€™t let anyone under his command take the fall for him. Archer accepted that the privileges of command came with certain burdens and he nodded to his men before addressing the Princep. "I'm the captain."

Lorrister nodded and looked to Jean who confirmed that Archer was telling the truth. He opened his mouth to speak but Rostin cut him off, gesturing to the confiscated phase pistols. "You said that these are weapons?"

She reluctantly confirmed this too. "Can they be used to kill someone?" She looked dubious but answered "yes, they can."

Rostin allowed a cheerfully menacing smile to creep across his features. "Excellent. If these men were your captors and if you are loyal to us, then you should have no problem killing their leader with this weapon."

Jean blinked and swallowed nervously as the still smiling Rostin walked over and handed her one of the phase pistols. She closed her hand around the instrument dazedly and watched Rostin stand back, looking very pleased with himself. "Now we will see where your loyalties truly lie."

It looked as though the Princep was about to protest, but one of Rostin's men made a great show of removing his knife from it's sheath, so he remained silent.

Jean nearly panicked. She couldn't kill Captain Archer, it wasn't even an option, but if her cover was blown then she couldn't help any of her crewmates. She nodded and addressed Rostin. "Alright, if this is what I have to do to secure your trust. Bring him over here." She spoke to two guards and gestured to Archer.

The guards seized Archer by both arms, unceremoniously dragged him across the floor and forced him to his knees before her. Their eyes met briefly and in that instant Archer knew that she had a plan. Reed and Trip were too far away to see this subtle look, so they were alarmed when they saw her adjust the phase pistol and then point it at the captain.

However, Rostin had also seen her fiddling with the weapon. "Hold on, what are you doing?" Jean looked up at him with her best 'who, me?' innocent expression. 

"Oh, I was just checking that the power cell was calibrated properly. It has to be set a certain way for the device to work."

Not really understanding her answer but satisfied by it, Rostin waved his hand impatiently. "Very well, but get on with it."

Archer followed the phase pistol with his eyes as Jean circled around to stand directly behind him. She aimed it at the back of his head and murmured quietly so only he could hear "it's set to stun." Then she squeezed the trigger and a bright stream of orange light flew from the pistol to hit Archer just above his neck, causing him to fall over as though dead.

Reed looked at her in horrified disbelief while Trip couldn't take his eyes off of Archer's body. They had noticed her adjust the phase pistol but they had no way of knowing whether she'd killed or merely stunned the captain. After she was assigned to the away team Reed had given Jean a crash course in using the weapons; loading the power cell and setting them to either 'stun' or 'kill'. However, she might have mistakenly adjusted the weapon to the lethal setting since they spent so little time on it and since the current situation was so nerve-wracking.

There was no question in Reed's mind as to her loyalty; he knew that sheâ€™d never intentionally hurt any member of the crew, but actually seeing her shoot the captain had been shocking.

Jean walked past Archer's fallen body and approached Trip and Reed with a smile on her face which was almost a sneer. She was pleased that her idea had worked but tried to pass off her relief as defiance so Rostin wouldn't suspect anything. It seemed that the next step in her plan was obvious, so she stopped inches from the officers and started putting it into action.

She leaned forward, looked Reed squarely in the eye and said in a cold tone "I'm not taking orders from you anymore."

Again she saw different varieties of shock come over the officers' faces, but then she subtly indicated with her eyes that Reed should look at her left hand, in which she still held the phase pistol. He followed her gaze and saw that sheâ€™d turned her hand to let him see what the weapon was set to when she fired it.

The shocked look on Reed's face gave way to relief and he smiled to himself as Jean turned away. Trip looked at him questioningly and Reed whispered "it was on stun." Trip breathed a sigh of relief, but both men knew they had to help carry out the deception by appearing to be shocked by the ensign's â€˜betrayalâ€™.

After showing them what she needed to she headed over to Rostin and gave the weapon back. She then quirked an eyebrow while saying as coolly as she could "are you satisfied about my loyalty now, or should I kill the others too?"

Rostin smiled grimly and shook his head. "That would hardly be practical. They have information I want and interrogating dead men is pointless. If you like, I could ask my men to be especially hard on them. As the Princep said, now you have an opportunity for revenge if these men were cruel to you. That was what you meant, wasn't it, Lorristor?"

He turned to the Princep knowing that the older man had no choice but to agree, surrounded as he was by Rostin's armed followers. The princep nodded slowly and spoke softly, not meeting the other man's eyes. "Yes, Rostin, it was." This caused the cold smirk on Rostin's face to grow into a grin before he turned back to address Jean again.

"So, what should happen to these two?"

Risking a glance towards Reed and Trip, she saw that they were looking at her expectantly. They knew that she had to answer carefully since she was walking a tightrope between alerting their captors to her deception and allowing both officers to be severely beaten. She replied with her heart pounding loud and fast in her ears, but knowing that Rostin was still testing her she tried to appear calm. 

"As far as questioning goes do what you need to, but they always treated me fairly. Their leader was cruel to me, but they never were."

Jean was beginning to wonder how long she could keep up this deceptive tango. Fortunately Princep Lorristor had heard enough and he stepped in to save her from any further underhanded questioning. "About your interrogation, Rostin, shouldn't you start that soon? I'm sure that Jaeen will be more than willing to answer any questions you still have after you've pumped these men for information."

"I suppose so. Guards, question these men and show them to our guest accommodations."


	4. Waiting . . .

Somewhere on Chalderon IV, 1605 hours, August 16 2151

Trip and Reed were half dragged and half led into a series of corridors below the main counsel chamber by three hefty guards. Their armed escorts eventually stopped in front of a wrought-iron door which was situated in a small alcove and recessed into the earthen wall. One of the guards handed off his prisoner and entered some sort of command into a keypad which then unlocked and opened the door. Trip craned his neck trying to see the sequence of symbols, but his guard caught on quickly and knocked the Chief Engineer to the ground.

"Don't even bother" he sneered "there's no one left to rescue you. Your 'friend' is working for my boss now, and your boss is dead. You two had better get used to your new quarters and used to doing as Defense Chief Rostin commands, unless you'd like more of these."

He roughly jabbed at Reed's split lip and Trip's blackened eye. "On the other foot, if you cooperate things will be easier for you."

One of the quieter guards took over and nodded to his noisy companion before unceremoniously shoving the two captives into their dank cell. "Get in there!" He shook his head. "These two are more trouble than they're worth. I like their friend, though." After pulling the door shut and entering the locking sequence, he smirked in an especially creepy way. "I wouldn't mind getting her alone for a few hours."

The three of them left the cell for their normal posts, trading crude comments along the way.

Once the last of the suggestive laughter had trailed off into silence, Reed looked around for Trip. Since his eyes hadn't yet adjusted to the dimness of their cell he had some trouble locating the other man. "'Other foot'? Something must be wrong with the UT."

Trip picked himself up from the dirt floor and walked over to lean against the nearby wall. "Small glitch, probly. Hoshi'll have it fixed in no time once we're back on Enterprise. Owch! What . . well, I'll be damned."

Reed came over to see what he was talking about. "What is it? Did you find something?"

Smiling and shaking his head in disbelief, Trip nodded and picked something up from the floor. "I found somethin' alright. I stubbed my toe on the away team med kit. Jean must've left it down here for us to find. I guess she does have a plan after all."

"Now all we have to do is clean ourselves up and wait for her to contact us. . . " Reed took the med kit from Trip and opened it, taking out supplies and bandages with the intent of patching up both himself and the engineer. When heâ€™d removed a few things Reed noticed that there were several objects in the kit which were definitely not medical supplies; the communicators, the scanners, and even one of the phase pistols.

"Commander!" Reed held up what he'd found. "Something tells me these aren't part of a standard kit."

Trip picked up one of the communicators and opened it. When a communicator was turned on it would usually chirp, but the only noise coming from this one was a quiet crackling of static. "D'you think we should try to contact Enterprise, let them know we're alright?"

"I don't know." Reed shook his head doubtfully "We don't know how advanced their sensors are, they might detect the transmission. We don't even know if we're still in range for Enterprise to detect the transmission. Are all the communicators in there?"

Trip rummaged through the pile and took a quick count, shaking his head afterwards. "No, there's one missing. D'you think the Captain has it?"

"If he does he's probably contacted Enterprise already and briefed T'pol."

 

After they were finished patching each other up they packed the kit back up and sat down to wait.


	5. From Bad To Worse

A dungeon somewhere on Chalderon IV, 1723 hours, August 16 2151

There was a loud commotion in the hallway; sounds of a brief struggle followed by impatient cursing and then something being dragged towards their cell. The noises stopped near their door and one of the guards in the hallway spoke.

"Rostin wasn't specific about where we should put her. Let's lock her up with her 'friends' and see what they'll do to her."

The other guard smiled as he activated the keypad and both men laughed before opening the cell and shoving someone inside. Trip and Reed had already guessed who their new cellmate was. The guards stood by the door for a while, hoping the men would pounce on her, but when nothing happened they gave up their cruel entertainment and left the area of the cells.

Jean had landed face down on the dirt floor and didn't move or speak even after the guards were gone. Trip went over to see whether she was alright. After a brief moment of hesitation Reed followed, bringing the med kit along just in case she needed medical attention. When he came over Jean still hadn't moved and Trip was kneeling next to her, looking as though he was about to speak. Reed joined them on the floor and put down the med kit, sliding it into Trip's field of vision and nudging him slightly. Trip looked over, saw the kit and nodded before turning back to Jean.

"They found you out."

It wasnâ€™t a question and she didn't answer. After a momentâ€™s pause he glanced at the med kit again and then at Reed, sharing a look with him. They knew first-hand how rough the guards could be, add the fact that Jean was seldom or never silent and they had good reason to be concerned about her.

All of a sudden she stirred, trying to pick herself up, but settled for turning her head so that her nose wasn't pressing into the dirt anymore. She reached a hand up to brush dirt off her face and then rested her head in her hands, looking dejectedly through her fingers at the floor. "Don't ask me any questions."

The men only responded with a confused silence.

"They put a listening device on me, so don't say anything or ask me anything." She raised her head out of her hands and turned, curious to see their reactions.

Trip looked flabbergasted but Reed got over his surprise very quickly. Heâ€™d expected something like this. With men like Rostin this kind of ploy was standard. After catching a spy they try to use the spy to their own advantage.

Reed gave her an appraising once-over, wondering where the device could have been hidden. Of course there were the obvious places; pockets, under her clothes, etc. but he couldn't tell just by looking. "Where is it?"

Jean gave a short, almost angry laugh and shook her head, saying cheerfully "They put it in my back." She sat up with some effort and turned her back to them, looking over her shoulder at them before lifting her tunic slightly to show what she meant. It was hard to see in the darkness and the men had to squint, but just above her yin-yang tattoo they saw a small rectangular chip. It looked as though it were made out of some dull colored metal.

"Wait, _**in your back?**_ How d'you mean?" Trip looked as closely as he could without violating her modesty, but he still couldn't see how the chip was attached to her skin.

Jean raised her eyebrows. "Ah, that's the fun part. There are small metal spikes at either end of it, curved sort of like fishhooks, which our hosts inserted into my skin. One of you needs to pull it out and then smash it into itty bitty pieces. Any volunteers?"

"So we just pull it out? Okay then, on three. One, two. . ."

Instead of waiting Trip pulled it out on two, catching Jean by surprise and causing her to bite back some unsavory language. Before she could say anything about it, he dropped the device on the floor and smashed it with the butt of a medical scanner.

She let the loose folds of her tunic drop back down to her waist before she began groping in the darkness, looking for a wall to lean against. "Uhg. I'm starting to hate this planet."

Reed couldn't help smirking as he moved to sit next to her. "Really? I thought you wanted to move here permanently. Owch!"

Jean had lightly kicked his leg and was glowering at him playfully. "That was _before_ the capturing and the interrogations and the faux execution of Captain Archer. The charm of this place wore off hours ago."

Once she found a seat Trip ran the scanner over her and Reed started asking questions as he cleaned up the cuts and bruises on her face. "Are you hurt? Is the captain alright?"

"I'm fine, just a few cuts and bruises, and the captain is safe. Right now heâ€™s got one of the communicators and a phase pistol and he's hiding out from the guards."

Reed couldn't help asking "How did you manage it?"

She cocked her head to one side and smiled "I fed them some bull about having to perform funeral rites in order to ensure the captain's passage into the afterlife."

The men chuckled disbelievingly and Trip shook his head. "I guess it's a good thing we watched â€˜The Mummy' this week. Does the captain know what's going on?"

"Mmhm. He knows where this cell is and he has the door locking code, and the schedule for the guard rotation memorized. When the next shift of guards comes on duty there's fifteen minutes when no one is watching the hallway outside these cells."

"And how did you find out about this?" Reed was looking at her with a complicated expression on his face; he was impressed by the intelligence but cautious about it's source.

She paused, knowing that he wasn't going to like this. "Lorrister told me. . . but before you jump down my throat I'd just like to say that I believe him to be trustworthy. He dislikes Rostin and he's willing to help us escape if we help him in return."

Trip shook his head and held out a hand. "Hold on, hold on, who's Lorrister, and why does he need our help? You didn't make him any promises, did you?"

"He was the older man from the council chamber. He's the regional governor for this province but his country's been at war lately and Rostin, the one who was supervising the interrogations, used a local garrison to take over.

"Lorrister didn't want to hold us captive, but Rostin didn't give him any choice. Lorrister helped me get the information I needed and he even played lookout while I briefed the Captain. He says that he'll help us, and I believe we can trust him. So . . . ?"

She glanced from one officer to the other, trying to assess their reactions and hoping that they took this news as well as Captain Archer had. Neither one of them looked happy about it.

"And you're willing to trust this . . Lorristor with our lives? With the Captain's life?"

Reed was looking at her very skeptically and shaking his head. How many hours ago had she met this person, and now she was putting all their lives at risk by trusting their safety to him. . .

However, she seemed confident that it was going to work. "Yes. He's an honorable and wise man, with nothing to gain from deceiving us, and it's not like we have too many other options."

"True, but that's still one helluva hail-Mary, ensign."

Reed rubbed absently at his sore neck and shook his head doubtfully, agreeing with Trip. "I hope you're right about him, Ensign. It's quite a long shot. What did you say about the guards changing shift, there's an interval when the hallway is unguarded? Do you know when the next shift comes on?"

"They change the guard in four hours, but there isn't much for us to do until then except rest and wait for Captain Archer to break us out."

Trip nodded and gestured towards a blanket folded haphazardly in the corner. "You two try to get some shuteye and I'll take first watch."

They both nodded and Reed got up to retrieve the blanket. He unfolded it as he walked back to where Jean was scoping out a semi-comfortable campsite. When it looked like sheâ€™d found a good dry spot they both sat down. He laid the blanket on the ground but drew it up to cover their knees.

After they both lay down and pulled the blanket up to cover themselves, Jean waited for a moment and then tapped his shoulder. "Sir?"

He answered without looking over. "Yes, ensign?"

_He'll never agree._ "Sir, could I borrow your shoulder?"

Surprised, he opened his eyes and turned over partially to get a look at her. "What for?"

She took a breath and got ready to hear him say no. _Still, it can't hurt to try._ "If it's alright, I'd like to deputize your shoulder as my pillow."

He raised his head and looked at her quizzically, trying to decide whether or not she was actually serious. _She is. Remember how she helped you on last monthâ€™s mission?_ One side of his mouth quirked into a wry smile. "If you insist, ensign. I don't suppose you'd take no for an answer anyway."

Surprised and happy, she laid her face on the fleshy part just below his shoulder, making sure that no other parts of her body were touching him. _No need to make him more uncomfortable than he already was._

She usually slept on her side with one arm below her pillow, or if she were in bed with someone else and using them as a pillow sheâ€™d intertwine her legs with theirs. This time, though, for the sake of Reed's sanity, she pointed her legs in an entirely different direction from his and kept her hands to herself.


	6. Knights And Monsters

A dungeon somewhere on Chalderon IV, 1830 hours, August 16 2151

Jean and Reed had both nodded off when Trip hissed urgently _"guards coming!"_ Immediately they both woke up and turned to face the door. All of them were on their feet as the locking code was entered and the door creaked ominously as it swung inwards, allowing three guards to enter.

The six of them squared off, prisoners and guards alike taking up fighting stances. 

"We only want the woman." It was one of the gruff guards who had been making crude jibes at her earlier on, but in the darkness of the cell it was difficult to tell where he was standing.

Without exchanging so much as a glance Reed and Trip took up positions to defend her. "If you want her you're going to have to come through us."

While Trip spoke, Reed took a moment to study the situation. The odds were three against three but it was really more like three to two. If Jean tried to help she'd become vulnerable to an attack from the third guard. Add to that handicap the fact that the guards had weapons and the Starfleet officers were unarmed and Reed couldn't see any way that he and Trip could be successful defenders. All the same, they had to try.

The first guard lunged at them followed closely by the second. The fight lasted less than a minute, and in what seemed like no time the guards had grabbed Jean and were dragging her out of the cell.

She tried to fight them but it was no use, they were too big and strong for her to break free from their grasp. While two guards pulled her out into the corridor a third stood in the doorway, preventing Reed and Trip from helping her and forcing them to watch what happened next.

The more brutish of the two guards moved towards Jean with a disgustingly self-satisfied look on his face while the other, slightly cleaner man held her fast against the wall.

"C'mon darling. If you give me a kiss I'll let your friends go. Just one nice kiss and you'll all be free."

_"Don't fall for it"_ Reed whispered from the doorway, but Trip just shook his head. " _She won't. She's too smart for that."_

"Kiss this!" She kicked the guard in the stomach and then hit him hard in the knees, knocking him to the ground.

_"Told ya she was too smart."_ Trip and smiled and Reed nodded in approval. _"Good for her."_

The guard who was still on his feet hit Jean across the face with the back of his hand. She fell awkwardly as her legs crumpled beneath her and lay at the base of the wall, cradling her injured face with one hand while trying to present as small a target as possible.

"I'm gettin that kiss an' then some, whether you like it or not."

The fallen guard was helped up by his friend and then both advanced on her. This time the marginally cleaner man was smiling evilly in anticipation. "I wouldn't mind gettin' a little sugar m'self."

Again she readied herself for a struggle, knowing that she couldn't hold them both off for very long. She tucked her feet beneath herself, bringing her knees close together and crossing her feet at the ankles so the men would have to pry her legs apart before they could . . .

_. . no, don't think about that. Just curl up, one arm protecting the head while the other protects the stomach. Get ready to scratch and bite. Can't kick, since that would make. . . other parts vulnerable._

Now the guards were standing over her. The dirtier one grabbed her upraised hand by the wrist and wrenched it downwards, leaving her head unprotected. Seeing a chance to inflict some damage, she tried to pull her hand free to punch or hit him but his hold on her wrist was too strong. She had to content herself with jigging her elbow about, hoping to jab him somewhere that would hurt.

The cleaner guard grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back, clumsily groping at her breasts with his free hand while his friend, who didn't seem bothered at all by her jigging elbow, moved in for a kiss. When she judged that he was close enough she spat in his face. He slapped her hard and then proceeded to wedge his hand between her knees, forcing her legs apart.

When they saw her get hit the first time Trip and Reed both winced but were stopped from intervening by the guard blocking the doorway. As both guards advanced on her and their intentions became even clearer, Reed hissed urgently to Trip.

"Sir, we have to do something! We can't just stand by and let . . " He broke off, shaking his head. He simply couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence aloud.

_We can't let them rape her._

His brain automatically finished the sentence and he winced involuntarily. It was just too horrible. They _had_ to do something and if the commander wouldn't help him, well, then the odds would just be a bit more hopeless than they already were.

The cleaner guard had been playing with her breasts for a while when Trip caught sight of Jean's face. The dim guttering light from the hallway torches was reflected in wet and dirty smudges on her face. She was wearing an expression of humiliation, pain and fear and although sheâ€™d shut her eyes tightly tears continued to pour onto her cheeks.

It was more than Trip could bear to watch. He tried to force his way past the guard. "Stop that! Leave her alone!"

Reed saw that his superior officer was practically trembling with rage. The guard pushed Trip back a few steps but he recovered his balance and threw a haymaker at the man's face. The guard stumbled back a few paces and Reed tackled him around his middle. The guard fell down in a heap, leaving the way clear for Trip and Reed to pull the other brutes off of their damsel in distress.

Jean kept her eyes closed tightly, ignoring the hands tugging at her hair and fondling her breasts, focusing all her attention on keeping her legs closed. _No! I will not be the first human involved in an inter-species rape! No way in hell is that gonna happen!_

In trying to pry her legs apart the guard had moved her around so that she wasnâ€™t sitting on her feet anymore. Now if she wanted to she could try kicking him, but it would mean making herself vulnerable for an instant.

_But if I keep my feet together when I kick, it'll be a double-blow and I'll expose less of myself . . ._

Taking a chance on her theory, she caught him in the chest and knocked him backwards into Trip's waiting arms. 

Moments later a couple of strong hands touched her arm and she started, afraid of being hit again, until she saw that it was Reed.

After he and Trip double-teamed the guard at the door heâ€™d taken out the guard who was holding her by the hair and molesting her. For a second Reed thought 'what if someone did this to Madeline?' and the next thing he knew heâ€™d launched himself at the man, pulled him off of Jean and knocked him senseless with two punches. At roughly the same time, Jean had kicked the other guard directly into the path of Trip's right hook and the commander had laid him out cold.

Now both men were crouching in front of her on the dirt floor of the corridor with worried expressions on their faces. As soon as Jean realized who it was she threw her arms around Reed's neck and let him pick her up. She buried her face in his shirt and let the frightened tears stream down her cheeks as he carried her back into their cell. Trip went to shut the door behind them, effectively locking them all back in until Captain Archer would come to let them out.

Before he closed the door all the way Trip took a look out into the hallway. He saw the three guards lying semi-conscious on the floor and saw the otherwise deserted corridor. It would be easy enough to try to escape now, but there were a few problems which Trip realized without needing a tactician to point them out. For one thing, Jean was in no state to go anywhere or do anything under her own power just yet. She needed to rest for a while and clear her head.

Also, the captain was expecting to find them in the cell when the guards changed shift. If they weren't there when the captain came to let them out the whole escape plan which Jean had worked so hard to iron out would be shot to hell.

_So we could escape, but instead we're locking ourselves in again. It doesn't seem to make sense, but it actually does._ He shook his head. _And I figured that all out on m'own. Tâ€™Pol would be proud._

Reed put her down in the corner where they had been sleeping, sharing a look with Trip after he closed the door. She didn't seem to be in any shape to answer questions about whether she was hurt or not, so Trip got out the medical scanner and began checking her for injuries while Reed stayed where he was, holding her.

After he put her down she kept clinging to him and crying but her tears were gradually becoming quieter and less panicked-sounding. He wanted to tell her that she was safe now and that the guards weren't going to hurt her any more, but he knew that neither of these things was certain, so he settled for simply holding her while she cried.

"They . . they . ." was all she could manage between hiccupy sobs, shaking her head and closing her hands into fists as though she were still trying to fend off her attackers.

He rubbed her back gently with one hand and tried to soothe her. "I know, ensign, I know. But it's over now and you're alright. Easy does it. You're alright." _For now_ , he thought. He didn't say it aloud, knowing it would only upset her more.

Trip turned off the medical scanner and put it away. "She's okay, no serious injuries."

Reed nodded in acknowledgement and looked down at the top of Jean's head which was currently resting on his chest. He noticed that sheâ€™d stopped crying but had begun to shiver. Her hands were still laced together behind one of his shoulders, effectively locking her arms in place and ensuring that he couldn't go anywhere without bringing her along.

"Commander, could you hand over that blanket?" It had been thrown to the side when theyâ€™d woken up and Reed couldn't exactly get up to retrieve it at the moment.

Trip reached across the floor and then laid it over his two entwined crewmates. "I'll, uh, go stand watch or something."

He had nothing against Reed, but seeing Jean clinging to him like that made Trip feel more than a little uncomfortable.

"No, Trip, you stood watch last time. The captain'll be here in two hours, so why don't you try to sleep until then?"

Jean had turned so she was facing Trip, but after he nodded in agreement to her suggestion she turned her face back into Reed's chest.

"Sir . . . " The word was half-muffled into the cloth of his tunic. The soft fabric pressed against her face, warm and comforting in the otherwise dank cell.

"Yes, ensign?"

She smiled. Since she was using his chest as a pillow, when he spoke she could hear his voice vibrating deep inside him a few seconds before he spoke the words aloud. "You really do make an excellent pillow."

Reed let a relieved smile spread across his face. "Happy to help. So, does this mean that you're back?"

Not exactly sure, she shrugged against his shoulder. "I guess so. I'm alright. . . ish."

His smile broadened at the use of one of her favorite nonsense words. _She'll be fine._ "Alrightish, eh? Well, that's better than nothing."

All was quiet in the cell until Reed inhaled sharply, causing his chest to expand and consequently lifting Jean's head a few centimeters into the air. He coughed a few times and hissed through his teeth afterwards, wincing and holding his side with an expression of suppressed pain on his face.

"Dusty down here, isn't it?"

Reed nodded, trying to clear his throat without any more coughing but not adding anything else to her statement.

"Are you alright? I noticed that you were wincing after you coughed."

_She's definitely fine, and back in doctor mode no less._ "My side hurts a bit, but I don't think it's anything serious."

She nodded, not actually agreeing with him but playing along for the moment. "Would you mind if I took a few scans, just to be sure?"

Without waiting for his answer, she shifted her body slightly and reached out to grab the med kit. Her hand crept out from beneath the warm blanket, groping blindly along the dirt floor until it encountered a smooth metallic corner, then a flat side and then another corner.

"Ha, found you!" She slid the kit over and then fumbled it open, found the medical scanner and then quickly retrieved it and turned it on.

Before scanning Reed, she aimed the blue glow from the scanner over towards Trip to see what he was doing. In the faint colored light, she could see that he was sitting hunched up against the wall near the door with his head resting on one knee. He was breathing steadily and seemed to be asleep. When the light hit his face, he woke up briefly, turned his head away from it and mumbled something about plasma relays before falling back asleep.

"Is he asleep?"

Reed was looking at her expectantly. She nodded, smirking. "And dreaming about plasma relays no less. Now, let's see about you. . . "

She swung the scanner around so that the blue light washed over Reed and fell onto the floor in a puddle. "Wouldn't you get better readings if you moved?"

"And give up such a comfy pillow? I can get good readings from where I am, but thanks for your concern. Hmm."

"What do you see?"

"A few bruised ribs and a mild concussion. It would be best if. . ." She trailed off, shook her head and started to laugh.

"I'm sorry, but what's so funny about my injuries?"

She continued to laugh helplessly for a few seconds and then regained enough control to speak. "It wasn't your injuries that were funny, it was the adâ€”advice I was about to give you . . ." She started to laugh again.

Reed looked at her as though she were going insane. "And this advice . . . ?"

Jean bit her lip and got a look on her face that she always wore when she was about to let someone in on a great private joke. "Tr . . . try to avoid any mo . . . more physical confrontations for a while . . ."

Seconds later she heard a low rumbling start deep within Reed's chest, which then erupted into a deep and rich laugh. They both lay there laughing for some time, enjoying the simple sensation of mirth. After such a hectic and terrifying day, just being able to laugh unrestrainedly was a great relief, until. . .

"Owch! Ohh, ow."

Immediately Jean stopped laughing and looked at him with a mixture of guilt and concern on her face. "Oh god, I'm so sorry. Did the laughing hurt your side?"

After closing his eyes and taking a few slow breaths Reed shook his head. When he opened his eyes again he saw that she was looking up at him from where her head was resting on his chest. Seeing how worried she was he smiled reassuringly and patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. It didn't feel all that bad, and to tell the truth I haven't laughed like that in a good long while. It was worth the pain."

She turned off the scanner and put it back in the medkit. "Well, I'm sorry to say that there isn't much I can do for you at the moment. An anesthetic would help reduce the pain but it would also make you feel a bit foggy, and that wouldn't be helpful when we have to fight our way out of here."

Both of them were quiet for a while, thinking about that eventual fight and mentally weighing the odds. Four Starfleet personnel against god only knows how many guards and soldiers. . . Their chances weren't good, to be perfectly honest, but they did have Lorrister on their side, and whatever guards were still loyal to him would probably help too, so the more she thought about it the less hopeless it seemed.

Suddenly and for no obvious reason she started crying again, but now the tears rolled silently down her cheeks. Since she was being so quiet it was a few minutes before Reed noticed that anything was wrong. It was only when her tears began to fall on his tunic and dampen part of it that he looked down at her quizzically. One of his arms was still wrapped protectively around her and he used that hand to gently squeeze her shoulder, trying to get her attention.

"Ensign?" She could hear the concern and confusion in his voice.

Embarrassed, she hid her face in the loose fabric of his tunic, grabbing a handful of the cloth in her fist and using it to wipe away her tears. At the same time she lightly hit his chest with her other hand in frustration. "I'm sorry. I- I don't know why . . ."

Reed started gently rubbing her back again, wanting to comfort her but feeling more than slightly awkward. The first time he'd seen her cry heâ€™d understood; she was terrified and very upset and had acted it, but now she seemed calm despite the tears which neither of them could seem to explain.

_The best thing I can do is try to comfort her, nevermind understanding whatâ€™s wrong._

"Don't worry about it, ensign. We've all been through a lot today and we're not out of the woods yet. It makes perfect sense that you'd be upset."

A bitter chuckle into his tunic was followed closely by Jean looking up to meet his gaze. "Oh? So why am I the only one in the room who's crying and doesn't know why?"

"Really, ensign, you should know the answer to that." He couldn't help smiling at the answer he'd come up with despite the fact that she was still looking at him tearfully. "The commander's asleep and I'm simply too stoic to cry."

This managed to coax a weak grin out of Jean before she let her head rest on his warm chest again.

"I suppose that's true. . . " She was quiet for a while but her tears didn't stop flowing. Reed could only tell because he felt the wet spot on his tunic continue growing. Finally she broke the silence with a low "Sir?"

"Yes ensign?"

"I don't understand. Why I'm such a mess, I just don't understand it. . ."

He held her tighter while continuing to rub her back comfortingly. "It's alright, ensign. Just try to relax and fall asleep. We all need to be alert for when we're breaking out of here, remember? But don't worry about it, I'm looking out for you."

She nodded tiredly, sneaking a glance over to where Trip was still sound asleep at the base of the wall.

"He's got the right id- _*yawn*_ idea. Think I'll take your advice about the sleeping. It's been a really long day. _*yawn*_ You promise there won't be any funny business?"

He frowned, reminding himself to 'speak' with those guards later on. "You have my word, ensign. Iâ€™ll be a gentleman and I'll deck anyone who comes close to doing otherwise."

She snuggled into his chest contentedly and smiled although a few tears were still sliding down her cheeks.

"Sir, you make me feel safe." It was mumbled into his shirt and he barely caught it, but it made him smile and hold her even closer.

Jean cried herself to sleep soon afterwards and Reed drifted off a few minutes later, but only after he'd sworn to himself that he would do everything in his power to protect her until they were safely back aboard Enterprise.


	7. Murphy's Law

A dungeon somewhere on Chalderon IV, 2100 hours, August 16 2151

Quick shuffling footsteps in the hallway outside the cell alerted Trip and Reed to the approach of someone who wasn't one of the guards. They looked at each other across the darkness while Trip moved to stand up next to the door. Neither one of them voiced the question they both wanted to ask but it was answered a few seconds later.

"Trip, Malcolm? Are you in there?" The voice was low but unmistakably belonged to the Captain. Both men inside the cell smiled in relief and nodded to each other.

"We're here, Cap'n, and so's Jean."

"Good, because I only know the locking combination for this cell." He grunted, shifting his hold on something to try and get his hands free. "I just hope our friend Lorristor gave me the right code."

While they were talking Reed sat up and gently shook Jean's shoulder. "Wake up, ensign." 

She was still using his chest as a pillow and had curled herself around his middle. When he spoke she stirred slightly but didn't seem to wake up. "Mmhng."

He shook his head. She'd warned him that she was a very heavy sleeper but he'd thought that she was exaggerating. Now as he shook her shoulder more roughly and she still didn't wake up he realized that sheâ€˜d been serious. "Ensign, you need to wake up."

She made a soft petulant sound and pulled the blanket closer to herself, nuzzling her face further into his shoulder and muttering "just five more minutes. I'm not late for my shift yet."

As amusing as this was, Reed was beginning to get annoyed. He decided to be patient but firm with her. He sat up slightly, forcing her to sit up as well, and then resumed shaking her. "Ensign, you're not on Enterprise and it isn't morning. The Captain's here to let us out of the cell so we can escape."

Her eyes opened slowly and focused little by little. As soon as she was mostly awake she rubbed a hand over her face and gave a disappointed groan.

"Ughh. I was hoping itâ€™d all just been a bad dream." She smiled weakly up at Reed who gave her a sympathetic shake of his head and a small grin as he pushed back the blanket.

"Sorry to disappoint you, ensign, but it really happened."

There was a muffled series of tones as Archer activated the keypad and a rusty clank as he opened the cell door. He stepped partially inside and looked around at his people, making sure to hold the door open. "Everyone alright?"

They all nodded. "We're all fine Cap'n. So, uh, what's the plan for getting outta here?"

Archer came all of the way into the cell but still kept one hand behind himself to hold the door open while he talked with Trip. "We're supposed to go down this corridor and follow it for three turns. Then we take a left up a flight of stairs and after that Lorrister'll meet up with us and tell us what to do."

The engineer looked at his captain appraisingly. He trusted Archer unquestioningly, but . . .

"Cap'n," he scrubbed a knuckle at his forehead and ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair. "Are you sure we can trust this Lorrister guy? I mean, he could just be leading us into another trap."

Archer nodded. "I've thought of that, but he's proven himself to be trustworthy. After Jean got caught he made sure the guards didn't know I was alive and sneaking around. He doesn't think his people have the right to hold us captive so he wants to help us escape. Besides, if it comes down to a fight he's with us and then he'll be able to see which soldiers are still loyal to him and who's loyal to Rostin. I've made up my mind, Trip. We're going to do as he says."

By now Reed was satisfied that Jean was fully awake so he left her and had been packing up the medkit while the other men talked. Once the kit was packed he came over to stand by Trip. It seemed like he had something to say and the captain nodded to encourage him. "Malcolm?"

He hesitated so the Captain pressed him slightly. "I'd appreciate your opinion."

"Well sir, from what you've said it sounds like this Lorrister can be trusted and I don't think he'll try anything funny, but his position is fairly weak from a tactical standpoint."

The pleased smile on Archer's face turned into a confused frown. "Go on."

"Sir, he isn't actually in charge around here and I assume his influence is very limited. Even if he wants to help us I'm not sure that he'd be able to actually do it." After he spoke Reed looked over to Trip hoping that the other man would back him up.

Archer stood in thought weighing his options and looking at his officers.

_They're capable and intelligent people so if they agree that it's a bad idea . . . no. I'm the captain and I'm responsible for my crew's safety, and right now trusting Lorrister is the best choice I've got for getting my people out of here._

He shook his head. "I don't like it any more than you do, but its not like we have too many options right now. We're gonna follow his lead."

Neither of them looked too happy but they both nodded and started getting ready to leave. Reed double-checked that everything was put away properly in the medkit while Trip gave the cell a last minute check for equipment and Jean went to stand next to the captain.

"How are you doing, ensign?"

She looked up at him and shrugged. "I'll be better once we're back on Enterprise, sir."

He smiled and patted her shoulder in a reassuring way, so he was surprised when she flinched slightly under his hand. Although he was confused he didn't get a chance to ask her what it was about because just then Reed and Trip came over.

"All set to go, Cap'n. After you."

He nodded and they all set out with Archer in the lead and Reed acting as the rearguard, just in case. They walked through the empty corridor, pausing every so often as though they were expecting several guards to appear the next corner. None did and they kept moving forward, eventually reaching the stairs. Once they got to the stairs there was nothing for them to do but go half-way up the flight and then wait.

This didn't suit Reed who, at a nod from the captain, drew out his phase pistol and continued up the stairs alone.

Meanwhile Archer looked his people over and saw that they were both sporting new bumps and bruises. "How've the guards been treating you?"

Trip shrugged non-committally. "Not too bad, I 'spose, but they havenâ€™t been treatinâ€™ us like royalty. They got rough during the questioning and weren't too gentle about putting us in the cell but they've treated us pretty decently for the most part. With a couple exceptions."

Reed had come back downstairs while he was talking and they looked at each other knowingly before glancing over at Jean. All three of them were unnaturally quiet for a minute or so during which Jean hunched her shoulders and shifted uncomfortably.

Trip moved towards her and protectively put an arm around her shoulders. She smiled very slightly and leaned into him. Reed had started to come towards her too, planning to do the same thing as Trip, but instead he settled for just patting her arm reassuringly. In answer she nodded and mouthed 'thank you' to him.

It was obvious to Archer that something had happened to the three of them down in the cells, but he could wait to find out what it was after they got back to the ship. Right now, he wanted to know what Reed saw when he went up the stairs.

"Report, lieutenant."

"Sir, these stairs lead back to the chamber we were brought into when we were blindfolded. There are roughly a dozen guards posted at all the exits and it looks like the next shift is about to come down to the cells. If you don't mind my saying so captain, we're sitting ducks on this staircase. Those guards will be coming down any minute now and they'll be sure to see us if we don't get out of sight."

"That will not be a problem." Lorrister stepped out of a small door to one side of the stairs and approached the away team. "This staircase is not used by the guards most of the time, only when they are all summoned to duty for an attack."

"It's about time you showed up." Archer smiled to show that he wasn't actually annoyed, while Reed eyed Lorrister distrustfully.

"You certainly took your time getting here."

"My apologies, I had to avoid being seen. Fortunately I know this building well, including it's hidden passages. I do hope that the guards have not mistreated you," he added earnestly, noting the various scrapes, bruises, and the disheveled state of the escapees.

Trip gave him a hard, angry stare. "You might want to teach your guards some manners. They tried to have a good time with Jean. We had to fight them off of her." His voice was tight with anger and Archer could tell that he was just barely keeping himself from shouting.

A look of understanding crossed Archer's face while Lorrister seemed shocked by this and bowed low to them. "I am truly sorry. If there is anything that I can do to make amends. . . "

"Just get us out of here safely and there wonâ€™t be any hard feelings." Reed was giving him the same angry stare that Trip was, but he looked over to Jean to check that she didn't mind being spoken for. She answered with a silent nod.

The princep bowed to them again, even more motivated to help them now than he had been before. "Very well then. If you'll follow me, I will guide you to the nearest exit. To reach it we will need to cross the main counsel chamber. These men are loyal to me. . ." he gestured to three soldiers who had emerged from the same small passageway. "They will loosely bind your hands with ropes so that it will appear to any observer as though they are guarding you. In this way I will be able to lead you across the counsel chamber without arousing suspicion."

Trip narrowed his eyes, thinking. â€œHold on. You mentioned hidden passageways. Wouldnâ€™t that be less risky than crossing the main chamber?â€

â€œPerhaps, but this way the fact that your cell is empty will not seem suspicious. If anyone claims that you have escaped, I will simply explain that I wished to speak with you in a more pleasant setting. This will give us more time to leave the complex and for my men to lead you through the woods to your vehicle.â€

The men looked at each other skeptically. "Bind my hands first," said Reed. "I'd like to examine the knots your guards plan to use."

When he saw that they planned to use a kind of knot which would come undone easily he voiced his approval and made sure that the guards tied everyone else's hands in exactly the same way. The whole group then proceeded up the stairs and into the counsel chamber with Lorrister in the lead, followed by the away team in single file flanked on either side by Lorrister's men and with the third guard bringing up the rear.

They made it halfway across the chamber without any problems, passing the dozen or so guards who were standing by the doorways. None of them batted an eyelid at the procession until four guards came running out of one of the stairwells leading to the cells. 

â€œThe prisoners have escaped! The prisoners have escaped!â€

Suddenly all of the guards around the chamber tensed and came to attention like dogs trying to sniff out a scent. Lorrister and his group froze for an instant but then he continued on forward and the away team followed. When the guards still seemed suspicious, Lorrister spoke up.

"Stand at ease men, there has been no escape. I needed to speak with these people and I did not want to do so down in the cells. As I have said, there has been no escape."

The group of guards who had come up from the cells came towards the small procession. They were joined by Rostin, who had heard their shouts and came hurrying out of one of the rooms adjoining the main chamber.

"Princep! I was not informed that you would be dealing with the prisoners.â€ He approached the older man, wearing an expression of confused anger when he caught sight of Archer. â€œAnd, and you! You were killed in this very room! before my eyes!"

Archer eyed his enemy, a man who had captured, interrogated and imprisoned his people. â€œI got better.â€ His voice was hard and his hands were slowly curling into fists. There was nothing he wanted to do more than knock Rostin flat on his ass, but knew that it was Lorristerâ€™s place, not his, to set the man straight.

"I wasn't aware that you needed to be informed." When Lorrister didn't show any signs of backing down, Rostin stepped towards him so that their faces were nearly touching.

"You damn well were aware of it!" He hissed. "I think you've forgotten your place, old man. . ."

Lorrister drew himself up to his full height and towered over the younger man. "Do you mean as regional Princep and administrator of this facility? No, Rostin, I have. For too long, but not any longer. I'm taking back my rightful place as . . ."

Now Rostin had had enough. He was by nature a calculating man and not given to displays of temper, but this old man standing in front of him, acting as though he was still in charge was too much. He grabbed Lorristerâ€™s badge of office, his staff, and tried to wrest it away from him.

Surprised by the viciousness of the attack, Lorrister fell back a few steps. One foot became tangled in the hem of his robes and he tripped, losing his balance and falling to the floor. He let go of the staff as he fell, using his hands to catch himself. Seizing this opportunity, Rostin swept up the staff as he continued forward, advancing on the older man and preparing to deal him a crushing blow.

 

â€œYou foolish girl.â€

 

She turned and they saw a metal hilt sticking out of her side. A spot of bright red quickly sprung up around it, her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell to her knees, soundlessly crumpling to the ground.

â€œNo!â€

Before Archer could even get his body to react, Reed was already crouched on the ground next to her. His cry hung on the air, sounding like that of a wounded animal. He slid his hands out of the ropes as his eyes flicked from her face to her side, trying to assess her injury without the aid of a scanner.

_The blade needs to come out, but not before thereâ€™s a bandage handy._ â€œTrip, the medkit!â€

In a flash Trip was next to him, opening the kit and tossing the scanner to Reed. Once Reed nodded that her airway was clear, Trip took out an oxygen mask and pressed it to her face. The inside of the mask began to fog up slightly, reassuring them that she was indeed breathing. â€œCan you . . . ?â€

Reed found the pressure gauze right away. He held it in one hand, taking hold of the dagger with his other and preparing to pull it out. He didnâ€™t look up for an instant. â€œI can handle it, sir, but would you be kind enough to help the captain take care of the guards? My hands are a little full at the moment.â€

Trip nodded but grasped Reedâ€™s arm before he stood up, looking intently into the other manâ€™s worried eyes. â€œTake care of her, Malcolm. Here.â€ He took out his communicator and opened it, holding it out to the other man. â€œGet Phlox to talk you through it, just in case.â€ His mouth twitched nervously.

_Just in case you donâ€™t know what youâ€™re doing._ Reed nodded curtly and Trip left his field of vision, heading back to stand with Archer as the Lieutenant got to work.

His fingers tensed on the hilt as he steeled himself to draw the blade out of her side, but then he stopped and shook his head. _I have to be sure about this._ He let go of the blade and reached for the communicator. â€œLieutenant Reed to Enterprise.â€

Less than a second passed before Subcommander Tâ€™Polâ€™s voice answered his hail. â€œGo ahead, Lieutenant. Has your situation improved since the Captain hailed us?â€

He let out a quiet, frustrated breath. _Thereâ€™s no time for this!_ â€œThe Captain released us from the cell, but weâ€™ve run into some trouble. I need to speak with Doctor Phlox right away.â€

A brief, tense silence, then â€œhas someone been injured?â€

He stole a glance at his friend, lying on the ground beside him. â€œYes.â€ She was still breathing, which reassured him, but she hadnâ€™t moved at all and she was still unconscious. A few trickles of blood had collected on the skin around the dagger and the bleeding didnâ€™t seem too serious, but his scans showed that she was also bleeding internally. â€œEnsign Olenick has been stabbed.â€

Somehow saying it aloud made the situation more real, and that made him even more stressed than he already was. The silence from the other end of the communication didnâ€™t help at all. He imagined Travis and Hoshi sitting at their stations on the bridge, looking shocked . . .

Tâ€™Polâ€™s unnervingly even voice broke into his thoughts. â€œUnderstood, Lieutenant. Iâ€™ll put you through to Sickbay.â€

He nodded. â€œThank you. Doctor? Are you there? I need you to talk me through what I have to do. Iâ€™m transmitting data from the medical scanner now.â€

To his relief, he heard Phloxâ€™s voice come through. â€œIâ€™m here, Lieutenant. The scans are coming up on my screen. Hmm . . . It looks like the blade went between her ribs and nicked part of her liver. Her respiration and pulse look good, and she doesnâ€™t seem to have lost too much blood so far. Have you removed the weapon?â€

Reed shook his head â€œNot yet. I was just about to. . .â€

â€œNo!â€ The urgency in Phloxâ€™s voice startled him. â€œPressure from the knife is keeping the bleeding in check. If you remove it now, she may not make it back alive. You need to stabilize the knife so it wonâ€™t injure her further when she has to be moved.â€

â€œAlright,â€ Reed said, quickly moving his hand away from the dagger hilt. â€œSo how should I do that?â€

â€œJust pack gauze around the blade and tape it in place. It will hold the knife steady for the moment and provide additional pressure to slow the bleeding. Also, you have to reduce the chances of infection.â€œ

Reed felt his heart suddenly lift. â€œI know how to do that.â€

The guards still loyal to Lorrister rounded on Rostinâ€™s men and stood with the Starfleet officers. All hell broke loose around him, but all Reed saw, all he heard, was the task at hand. He found a pair of scissors in the kit, sealed in a sterile bag, and cut the pressure bandage into smaller pieces. Quickly but carefully, he cut away the torn fabric around the site of the wound, next cleaning the area and applying a salve to the gauze to prevent an infection. Finally, he pressed the gauze to her side and began bandaging it securely. He held the small gauze pad in place with one hand, holding a roll of medical tape in the other as he tore off a length of it with his teeth.

He smoothed tape across one edge of the gauze, pulling so the bandage pressed firmly against one side of the blade. â€œDamn. . I hope Iâ€™m doing this correctly. . .â€ he muttered to himself.

â€œIâ€™m sure you are.â€

Startled by her voice, he looked over to see that she was squinting up at him. Once heâ€™d seen her face she let her head drop back to the ground, where it landed with a dull thump. â€œDid you apply the coagulating agent? Itâ€™d help slow the bleeding . . . Sir, can you hear me?â€ Her voice was just above a strained whisper.

â€œUh, yes, ensign. Where is the coagulant?â€

She blinked, trying to focus on part of the ceiling instead of on what Reed was doing. â€œTube in the kit. Says â€˜coagulantâ€™ on it.â€

Reed shook his head, smiling as he looked inside the kit. _Sheâ€™s being cheeky. Well, thatâ€™s good, at least._ â€œRight. Found it. So. . here, Iâ€™ll just put it on the underside of the gauze, then.â€

He lifted an edge he hadnâ€™t taped in place yet and applied some of the sticky gel to the gauze. As he squeezed the tube, he looked at the underside of the bandage and was shocked by what he saw. The gauze was almost completely soaked through with blood.

â€œDamn. . .â€ he swore softly, shaking his head. _Iâ€™ll need to put more gauze on top of the existing bandage. . . Can I even do that? Is that proper procedure?_

Phlox chimed in. â€œYouâ€™re doing fine. If it bleeds through, just tape on another layer of gauze. Donâ€™t replace the first bandage.â€

He nodded in relief, grabbing more gauze pads from the kit and taping them in place. _It certainly helps to have someone around who knows this stuff._ â€œHow are you holding up, ensign?â€

She let her head fall to the side, resting a cheek on the ground as she took in the chaos around them. â€œOh, â€™m greatâ€ she slurred. â€œBleeding from a stab wound, lying helpless in the middle of a battlefield, an being a liability. Howâ€™re you?â€

No answer.

There were sounds of a struggle nearby, but sheâ€™d assumed that Reed wasnâ€™t one of the people involved in it. _Maybe he answered but I didnâ€™t hear him._ â€œSir?â€ she tried to raise her voice, but the words just came out as a feeble croak. His hand wasnâ€™t pressing down on her bandage anymore and she was dimly aware of her right arm lifting itself up, moving towards her injury. â€œYou alright?â€

â€œEnsign?â€ She heard Phloxâ€™s voice coming from the communicator, but she coudnâ€™t see where Reed had left it. â€œWhatâ€™s wrong?â€ 

She hesitantly looked around. â€œReedâ€™s gone. I dunno where . . .â€

Phlox sounded worried. â€œEnsign? Ensign, I can barely hear you. Did you say the Lieutenant left you by yourself?â€

She groped around for the communicator. Not finding it, she tried to speak up so that Phlox could hear her. â€œHeâ€™s gone . . .â€

Trying to raise her voice prompted a few harsh coughs which made the dull, throbbing pain in her side increase tenfold. It hurt so much that she could barely think straight. When her mind finally cleared, she realized that Reed still hadnâ€™t answered her. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to make some sense of that.

_Why wouldnâ€™t he answer? He wouldnâ€™t not answer, unless something happened that stopped him._

Blinking, she lifted her head to see what was going on. At first she didnâ€™t see anything except for dim shapes moving around at the edges of the room.

_Fighting. People, and theyâ€™re all fighting. But whereâ€™s Reed?_

She turned her head, looking for him and starting to get worried. Then she saw them. They were less than three meters away, so she was surprised it took her so long to spot them. One of the guards had Reed in a headlock, but a second later Reed flipped the man over his shoulder and onto the ground. Looking at the ground, she saw scuffmarks moving away from her.

_So when the guard attacked Reed he tried to draw the fight away from me._ She smiled. _Nice of him. Heâ€™s nice. . ._ she shook herself. _No, I canâ€™t drift off to la-la land. Not yet._

She took a moment to brace herself, and then, before she lost her nerve, she inhaled deeply. It felt like she was being run through, but the pain woke her up.

The guard was larger than Reed and looked like more than a match for him, but she knew that the Armory officer was skilled in hand-to-hand combat. However, the guard was forcing Reed back towards her by putting his weight behind every hit and punch he threw.

When the two of them were only a few steps away from her, Jean recognized the guard. He was one of the brutes from down in the cells, the one whoâ€™d tried to force himself on her.

_Give â€˜im hell, sir._

She smiled when Reed landed a double kick to the manâ€™s chest and noticed the expression on her superiorâ€™s face. It was the look of concentration he usually wore during a fight, but something else was there too. A glimmer of uncharacteristic satisfaction in his eye, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth each time he dealt the other man a blow.

_He mustâ€™ve recognized the guard too. And now heâ€™s avenging my honor or something. I hope he doesnâ€™t get sloppy . . ._

The guard stumbled back a step after recieving two kicks and a punch. Reed was about to rush him again, to go for another hit, when he heard a low, confused voice behind him.

â€œSir . . . why do hand-to-hand when youâ€™ve got a phase pistol?â€ 

Reed blinked and shook his head very slightly, simultaneously amused and annoyed at himself. _I forgot all about it. Mustâ€™ve been the adrenaline._

The guard used this momentary distraction as an opportunity to grasp Reed by the throat with a meaty hand.

Reed reached down to remove the phase pistol from itâ€™s holster while trying to pry the guardâ€™s fingers away from his neck with his other hand. Reedâ€™s skillful fingers felt the sides of the phase pistol, trying to determine without looking down whether it was set to â€˜stunâ€™ or â€˜kill.â€™

_If it isnâ€™t set on stun the captain will have my head . . . not that itâ€™ll matter if this brute chokes me first._

Gently curving metal passed under his fingertips as he searched its surface. It was smooth and cool to the touch, its evenness only interrupted by a few small notches surrounding the end of the barrel and further back, on the left side . . . _there you are. Nub tilted forward means it is set to stun. Now then . . ._

He held the phase pistol alongside his hip as he squeezed the trigger, hitting his assailant squarely in the gut. Reed allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction when the hand on his throat fell away and a surprised look crossed the other manâ€™s face just before he crumpled to the ground. As soon as he was sure that the man was alive and unconscious Reed stood up and did a slow turn, scanning the room for problem spots.

A sudden movement by one of the doors caught his eye. Seconds later the two guards were lying on the floor on either side of the door, unconscious, as Reed moved on to his next targets.

Many of the guards were still fighting each other, but he couldnâ€™t tell which men were loyal to Lorrister from far away and he didnâ€™t want to accidentally stun any of their allies. He turned further and saw that Archer was backed up against a wall trying to fight off three guards. Even as he aimed his pistol at one guard he couldnâ€™t help thinking _Americans. Why is it that they all want to be cowboys?_

As the second guard sank to his knees, Archer caught sight of Reed and nodded his gratitude, flashing a huge smile at his officer. With a little prodding from Archer the third guard surrendered, throwing his weapon away and then sitting down on the ground with his hands on his head.

Trip was crouched in front of an open metal panel between two of the doorways and a few of â€˜theirâ€™ guards were defending him from the other guards while he tried to hotwire the circuitry.

Just before all hell broke loose, one of Rostinâ€™s men had entered a command on a keypad which had sealed and then locked all the other doors. Now Trip was trying to undo that command so the away team could actually leave the chamber and get to the pod. His bodyguards didnâ€™t seem to be having any problems defending him, so Reed kept turning until he was facing the center of the room.

Rostin and Lorristor were still grappling with each other on the central dais, but Rostin had gotten control of the staff and was holding it across Lorristorâ€™s throat; he was using it to strangle the older man. Before his mind had finished processing what heâ€™d just seen Reed noticed that heâ€™d raised his right arm and was aiming the phase pistol at Rostin. 

The Princep was fighting for breath, trying to push the staff away from his throat to no avail. His vision was becoming blurry and dark spots were dancing before his eyes. _He will actually kill me. I never believed he would actually do it. . ._

He was vaguely aware of a noise behind him. It sounded like a soft crackle of lightning followed by a muffled grunt but he didnâ€™t think much about it. He had other things on his mind, like trying to remove the pressure from his windpipe and draw air into his lungs. Lorrister had just resigned himself to his fate when his prayers were suddenly answered.

The hands holding the staff against his throat went slack and fell away as the staff itself clattered to the ground. Gratefully Lorrister gulped at the air before he turned around, wanting to know who had helped him. The first thing he saw was Rostin lying on the ground and then his eyes flicked up to see Reed standing a couple dozen meters away. His weapon was still trained on Rostinâ€™s motionless form, as though he expected the man to sit up and attack someone.

Lorrister smiled at him in thanks. It was a dignified, reserved smile, one which Reed could easily respect. He returned the smile and nodded seriously, looking away from Lorrister for a second to assess the situation in the large room, checking all around for problems he might have missed on his first sweep.

_Captain Archer is safe, Commander Tucker too . . . Now we just have to get the Ensign back to the pod. Once weâ€™re back on Enterprise Phloxâ€™ll take care of her. Sheâ€™s strong, sheâ€™ll be alright. We just need to get her back to the ship right away. I canâ€™t believe it, but somehow we actually won. I really wasnâ€™t expecting it to be this easy, all things considered . . ._

When he looked back at the Princep he was surprised to see that the smile had faded from his face and was replaced by a look of shocked fear.

Before he even had a chance to be confused Reed heard a heavy footstep behind him and felt something hard and coldly metallic press against the back of his neck.

â€œDrop your weapon if you want to live.â€

It occurred to Reed that the person behind him might be bluffing. After all, he had heard of people robbing banks with toy guns and holding hostages with curling irons. His skin told him that the object was round and smooth and it had an empty area in the middle.

_Damn, it feels like the end of a gun barrel._

Reed blinked and then swallowed hard, knowing that turning around or making any move at all would be suicide. He fingered the phase pistol in his hand, nervously tightening his hand on the grip.

_Why the bloody hell didnâ€™t I look behind myself when I was checking for hostiles?_

He chewed the inside of his lip nervously as his eyes darted around the room. It seemed that the captain and Trip were unaware of his situation and he knew that he couldnâ€™t use the phase pistol, but he was still unwilling to leave himself defenseless.

â€œI said DROP YOUR WEAPON!!â€

The shout was right next to his ear, so loud and sudden that it made him jump slightly. _I knew it was too easy . . ._

Reluctantly he bent his right knee, not wanting to damage the phase pistol by letting it drop too far to the ground. He moved slowly to buy himself some time. â€œAlright, Iâ€™m putting it down.â€

He raised his voice more than was necessary as he spoke, hoping to attract Archerâ€™s or Tripâ€™s attention, but neither man was within his field of vision so he couldnâ€™t tell whether or not they had heard him.

When the pistol was on the ground he received a sharp prod in his neck, encouraging him to stand up. As soon as his hand was empty he felt vulnerable, licking dry lips and trying to think like a tactical officer instead of like a hostage.

â€œWhat are your demands? Perhaps we can negotiate . . .â€

A metallic click just behind his ear told him that the weapon was being cocked. _Think, Reed, think!_ he shouted at himself, squeezing his eyes shut to try to focus. 

â€œNo closer or he dies.â€

_Wait a tick. He wasnâ€™t talking to me, so who. . ?_ He opened his eyes to see that Lorrister had closed the distance between them and had stopped only a few meters away. _Stalemate._

â€œAaugh!â€

Suddenly the gun barrel fell away from his neck and the guard cried out in pain and surprise as he fell to the ground. Reed whipped around to see his assailant lying in the dirt behind him and cradling his bleeding leg. He kicked the gun out of the manâ€™s hand, then he looked over at Jean and saw that she was holding the dagger in a bloody hand. He didnâ€™t know if it was her blood or the guardâ€™s, but he hoped it wasnâ€™t hers.

She smiled at him in a very self-satisfied way, following him with her eyes when he knelt down next to her.

â€œEnsign?â€

He looked at her questioningly for a second before he resumed seeing to her wound. He was no doctor but he knew it was bad, and he knew that letting the bleeding go unchecked for even a few minutes hadnâ€™t done her any favors. Phlox had warned him against removing the dagger. â€œHow . . what did you do to him?â€

â€œSeems his leg is bothering him. Itâ€™s that jackass guard from the cells, isnâ€™t it? The one who . . .â€

Reed just nodded and she gritted her teeth, although he couldnâ€™t tell if it was from pain or anger. â€œI wanted to stab him, but I could only reach his leg. He wonâ€™t lose much blood. Unfortunately.â€

_Anger. Thatâ€™s definitely anger._

Reed threw a quick glance at his fallen enemy before turning back to her, at a loss for words. _Well, this is a new way to end a stalemate._ His silence didnâ€™t really surprise her and she closed her eyes while he tried to get the bleeding back under control.

â€œCouldnâ€™t let him shoot you.â€ She said simply, wincing as he worked. â€œI saw you, an the dagger was there so I grabbed it. Least Iâ€™m still thinking clearly.â€

_Not so clearly._ He paused briefly to take the dagger from her. Once it was out of her hand he put it aside, absently noting how the blade gleamed wetly in the roomâ€™s low light. As soon as the wound was clear, blood had welled up from it and spilled onto the ground. 

â€œAnd I donâ€™t suppose you had any other reason for wanting to harm him?â€

She tried to flash him a weak smirk, but only ended up wincing. â€œLike I said, sir, I couldnâ€™t let him shoot you. The fact that I already wanted to hurt him just made it easier.â€

"Let's get back to Enterprise. I'm no good at death scenes."


	8. Somebody's Going To Emergency . . .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm toying with the idea of using the transporter instead of the shuttle to get the ensign and Reed back to Sickbay more quickly, but that means cutting out the bit where Reed is sick in the shuttle. I'm very new to this site (joined less than a day ago) so I don't know if it's possible to have alternate versions of the same story available to be read. Anywhoo, I'm gonna write the alternate version during the next week and post it as a stand-alone. Depending on which version you good people prefer, I'll decide which version to keep. Please bear in mind that I'm trying to use good medical reasoning - i.e., faster transport to a hospital = better chances for the patient.

  
Author's notes: I'm toying with the idea of using the transporter instead of the shuttle to get the ensign and Reed back to Sickbay more quickly, but that means cutting out the bit where Reed is sick in the shuttle. I'm very new to this site (joined less than a day ago) so I don't know if it's possible to have alternate versions of the same story available to be read. Anywhoo, I'm gonna write the alternate version during the next week and post it as a stand-alone. Depending on which version you good people prefer, I'll decide which version to keep. Please bear in mind that I'm trying to use good medical reasoning - i.e., faster transport to a hospital = better chances for the patient.  


* * *

Forest outside Chalderon IV's capital city, 2254 hours, August 16 2151

The path curved off to the right and as the team rounded the bend they saw that a fallen tree was blocking their way. It was too large to go around but low enough to climb over unless someone wanted to climb over while carrying something as heavy as another person. Archer solved the problem by climbing over and then telling the other men to lift Jean onto the tree trunk and hand her off to him before they climbed over to join him. 

Once they had all climbed over, Archer walked a few steps into a clearing and gently put her on the ground. If it weren't for the seriousness of their situation, Jean would have marveled at how beautiful the spot was. It looked like part of a fairytale illustration, complete with shafts of golden sunlight filtering down through the green leaves and even some melodic alien birdsong. She half expected to see some magical creature hop out of the bushes and offer the team a spell or elixir which would heal her and transport them all safely back to the ship. However, the team remained alone in the clearing and no miraculous escape presented itself.

With some effort Jean stopped daydreaming and realized that the captain was talking to her.

"Trip and I are going ahead to try and find our way back to the pod, but Malcolm'll stay here with you." He looked at Reed who nodded in agreement and came over to sit near her.

Archer faced Reed and said more quietly "If this takes more than ten minutes, comm us. Scan her vitals every couple minutes, and if anything happens try to get in touch with Phlox."

Reed nodded, glancing down nervously at the Ensign and then back at his captain. "Understood, sir."

"I'm just slowing you down."

Jean had managed to lever herself onto one elbow and was looking straight at the captain, but she only held herself up for a few seconds before Reed moved in to help support her and then gently eased her back onto the ground. Halfway there he realized how cold and damp the ground was, so instead he let her rest against his torso. She ended up sitting with her head resting in the middle of Reed's chest and her shoulders and back pulled halfway into his lap. 

"Don't be ridiculous, ensign, nobody is going to be left behind."

While Reed tried to quietly reassure her, Trip and the captain followed a likely looking trail in the hopes that it would seem familiar and lead them back to the shuttle pod.

She tried to shake her head but only managed to wince. "No, sir . . . the transporter. I could beam back to sickbay . . . get there faster and wouldn't slow the team down."

He was genuinely surprised. "You're willing to trust that thing?"

She shrugged almost imperceptibly; if Reed hadn't been holding her he wouldn'tve noticed it. "â€™S better than bleeding to death down here, and Novakavitch and the captain went through it alright."

â€œWhen Novakavitch came out on our end he had leaves and twigs sticking out of him.â€

She caught her breath and tensed up, trying to fight off a sudden wave of pain. Because they were sitting so closely together Reed could feel it each time she shuddered or winced, and each time he had to restrain himself from calling for help.

_The only people out here who'd hear me are the search patrols looking for us or Captain Archer, and the Captain doesn't need any extra distractions. Just hold on for a few minutes, and if you have to call someone, call Phlox._

"I'm . . . I'm trying to be brave, sir, but. . ." She paused and added in a small voice "I'm scared."

She looked so small and vulnerable that all Reed wanted to do was hold her and tell her that everything would be alright, but all he could think of doing was running a hand along her arm and saying hollowly "Don't be silly, ensign, you'll be fine. We'll all be back on Enterprise before you know it, there's nothing to worry about."

A sad, wry smile appeared on her face. "We both know that isn't true. There's a good chance that I could die . ."

He frowned, hushing her sternly. "I won't hear that sort of talk. You're going to be alright, ensign. I'll make sure of it."

"I'll hold you to that, and come back as poltergiest if you donâ€™t . . . promise me that you'll stick around, that you'll make sure that I'm okay."

Reed smiled and gave her the most hopeful and reassuring look that he could muster. He might not be able to protect her any more than he already had, but at least now he could give her some comfort. "I promise, ensign. I'll stay with you until you're out of danger."

He was pleased to see her smile at his words but she passed out a few moments later.

When Captain Archer and Trip came back they found Reed sitting with Jean and studying her vitals with a medical scanner. Hearing their approach, he looked up anxiously. "Any luck finding the pod?"

Archer nodded, indicating a break in the bushes. "It's down that path, about five minutes away. How is she?"

"I can't stop the bleeding. . . " He trailed off, looking from the medical scanner to Jean's wound and shaking his head, feeling utterly useless.

Archer and Trip exchanged a look. Theyâ€™d both seen how protective Jean and Reed were of each other, particularly down in the cells and during the fight prior to their escape.

"Malcolm, you've been carrying her since we got into the forest. Why don't you take a break and let one of us carry her the rest of the way?"

Reed got to his feet with some effort, holding her still form protectively close to his own body and shaking his head. "Thank you sir, but that won't be necessary."

His arms were getting tired, his back was starting to hurt, and his ribs had been complaining for some time, but he wasn't about to hand her over to someone else, even if the someone else outranked him.

Trip took a step towards him with his hands outstretched. "At least let me help keep her steady."

Before Reed could protest something unexpected happened. A sleepy female voice floated up from somewhere around his waist height.

"Don't tell me the pall-bearers are volunteering already."

Both men looked down in surprise and saw that Jean had partially opened her eyes. She was looking much the worse for wear but still faintly smirking up at them.

"Don't argue. Just let Trip help if he wants to. Okay?"

She sounded tired but insistent, so Reed allowed Trip to support her other side as they made their way to the shuttle pod.

"Alright ensign, I'm letting him help." He checked her reaction and saw her smile faintly and then he felt her nod her head against his shoulder.

Reaching the pod took more than double the estimated time since now they were carrying an injured person but they got there without much trouble. Getting into the shuttle proved to be the difficult part since the ensign couldn't get in on her own but had to be handed through the shuttle hatch, and the fact that she was unconscious and clinging to Reed's neck didn't make things any easier. Finally Reed solved the problem by just sitting down in the doorway facing outwards and then scooting backwards into the pod. He held Jean in his lap while Trip made sure that her legs and head safely cleared the doorway before he climbed inside and sealed the hatch.

The shuttle took off and she came to a few moments later.

When she opened her eyes a blur of light and color slowly came into focus, and she found herself looking up at the ceiling of pod one. She didnâ€™t bother trying to move, but after glancing around she surmised that she was on the floor in the back part of the pod. And she wasnâ€™t alone. Her upper body and her head were being supported by something warm and solid. Warm and solid and breathing. A momentary panic settled over her but lifted when she caught sight of the two small metallic rectangles on the someoneâ€™s shirt. Relieved, she forced herself to exhale slowly, knowing that anything other than a slow deep breath would heighten the pain in her side.

_Itâ€™s Lieutenant Reed. He carried you to the pod, remember? Now relax and stop being silly._

"If someone else wants to play Matah Hari next time, be my guest. . ." She broke off, wincing and closing her eyes before tiredly letting her head rest against Reed's warm shoulder. Without giving it any real thought he held her closer and squeezed her hand sympathetically.

Reed wanted to help the ensign feel better but he didn't know what to do. Sheâ€™d saved his life and Captain Archerâ€™s on the planet and sheâ€™d gotten stabbed in the process. Now he held her in his arms in the back of the shuttle pod, wanting to do nothing less than save her. 

He owed her that much at the very least. Not because sheâ€™d made their escape possible and put her own life in jeopardy, but because heâ€™d personally recommended her for this mission. She wouldn't have been in this mess if it weren't for him.

Yes sometimes she was silly and highly unprofessional but she was always good to have along on missions. Her bravery couldn't be questioned, she was a shrewd judge of character, and she had a great facility for deception. In fact, she'd been able to get the information needed to salvage today because of her talent as an actor. Even her reference to Matah Hari was accurate, with her acting chops she could be a good spy. Reed smiled briefly at the thought. . .

. . . until she whimpered softly and her fingers tensed on his neck, bringing him back to reality. _I really did a bang-up job protecting her. He shook his head._

He spoke with forced optimism "don't worry, Ensign, you're going to be alright."

He felt her eyebrows move as she shifted her head slightly, mumbling, "You don't have a medical degree, how would you know?"

He smiled at her, imitating her mischievous grin. "You're lucid enough for banter, isn't that proof enough?"

A confused smile drifted across her face. "You just answered my question with another question."

Her voice was softer now and she sounded mildly confused, almost unsure of what was going on. Reed wanted to keep her distracted and hide how worried he was, so he tried to keep the light-hearted conversation going.

"I answered one question with another, does that make me Jewish?"

There was a weak but distinct laugh, followed by the half-mumbled word 'doubtful.'

She was getting worse. Her breathing was becoming shallow and rapid, she was shivering and her skin was cold but slick with sweat. "Take slow breaths ensign, in and out." 

She weakly shook her head. "Breathing hurts. It . . . hurts . . ."

Reed saw her wince at each breath and worried that the stab wound might have punctured her lung. His medical knowledge was very limited; he knew she was going into shock, but wasnâ€™t sure how to stabilize her.

"I'm sorry that it hurts, ensign, but try some deep breaths. In and out, that's right. That's good. Now, tell me what I can do to help." He wanted to stabilize her, but he also wanted to keep her mind occupied with something.

"Help?"

She definitely sounded confused now. _At least she isn't panicking._ That's something. He masked his concern and spoke patiently, as though he were asking a small child to recall a half-forgotten dream.

"I have a patient who has lost a large amount of blood and I think she's going into shock. What should I do?"

Her head began to roll to one side and she mumbled incoherently before pressing her cheek into his shoulder and tightening her hold on his neck. Getting increasingly worried, he grabbed her arm and lightly shook it. "Ensign, what should I do?"

_Help, Reed wants my help with something._

She opened her eyes sleepily, trying to concentrate. She knew this, it was just basic first aid but somehow remembering it was still a struggle. "Keep her warm. . . elevate her legs, 'nd put pressure on the wound, even if she says it hurts."

"Everything alright back there?"

Captain Archer turned around in his seat and looked towards them. He held a crude bandage to a plasma burn on his arm, trying to keep the injured area covered. It occurred to Reed that if Jean weren't injured, she'd have quickly seen to the Captain's wound and bandaged it neatly, but since she was seriously hurt and Reed was looking after her, Trip had been forced to play medic, rummaging through the med kit and hastily taking care of the Captain's arm.

 

Forcibly snapping himself back into the moment, Reed looked at the captain and shook his head grimly. "Sir, could you get out one of the pod's emergency blankets? She's going into shock. We need to keep her warm and get her to sickbay fast."

Archer nodded, taking out the blanket and helping to spread it over the ensign. "We'll be back on Enterprise soon and Phlox'll fix her up in no time. How about you, Malcolm. Are you alright?"

Reed shrugged as much as he could without jostling the ensign and shook his head dismissively after giving himself a mental once-over. "Just a few cuts and bruises sir, nothing to write home about."

"He's lying, Captain. Three bruised ribs and a mild concussion."

Archer looked at her for a moment and then at Reed. "Malcolm?" 

After a momentâ€™s hesitation Reed nodded at the Captain, confirming that what Jean had said was true, and then fixed her with a mock glare. "Tattle-tale."

She smiled up at him with weak defiance. "Doesn't matter how bad shape I'm in. . . I'm still a doctor."

Suddenly the pod jolted sharply and Archer turned to check the guidance console. "Looks like our friends don't want us to leave just yet. Hold on back there, this could get a little rough."

A few alien vessels were in pursuit and firing particle cannons at the pod, causing it to shake and bounce the occupants. Once Captain Archer was no longer facing the back of the pod, Reed closed his eyes and tried to clear his head. Usually he could avoid motion sickness or at least hide his discomfort, but since he'd been so focused on looking after Jean he'd forgotten to look after himself. Now he couldn't help feeling sick; his stomach was doing flips as the pod spun dizzyingly. Reed swallowed and shook his head, trying to get rid of the nausea.

"You look green." He looked down to see concern written on Jean's face. "You okay?"

Bleeding to death, and sheâ€™s still looking out for me. He smiled slightly and spoke softly so only she could hear him. "Just a bit queasy, but I'm not the patient. Don't worry about me."

She nodded weakly and mumbled "'m sorry" into his shoulder before passing out again.


	9. Loyal To A Fault

Sickbay, E Deck, 0618 hours, August 17 2151

Phlox got up from his workstation to check on his patient. As he approached her biobed he was surprised to see Reed sitting in a nearby chair. Phlox quietly sighed and shook his head. He'd had this exact conversation with the lieutenant several hours before and wasn't looking forward to having it again. However, seeing to the crew's well being was his job, and sometimes that meant squaring off with stubborn officers.

"Lieutenant, do I need to call a security detail down here to escort you to your quarters?"

Reed reluctantly turned away from the ensign's sleeping form to look at Phlox. He'd been trying to make sense of the various screens and displays around the biobed for a while, but he wasn't having much luck. He blinked and tiredly rubbed at his eyes with one hand, shaking his head afterwards to rouse himself. Not being able to help the ensign was bad enough, but it was frustrating that he couldn't even discern her condition surrounded as he was by monitors and gauges.

"If it's all the same to you, Doctor, I'd rather stay here. At least until she wakes up."

Phlox shook his head again. _Very_ stubborn officers.

Reed had been in Sickbay since midnight the night before when the away team had brought Jean in. Phlox had focused all of his attention on her and he called Crewman Cutler in to look after the three officers. She was a deputy medic who would help out in Sickbay when there were too many patients for the doctors to handle by themselves. After sheâ€™d scanned, cleaned, swabbed and bandaged all three officers they hung around, waiting to hear any news on Jeanâ€™s condition.

When it was almost 2am Phlox had poked his head out of the curtains surrounding his mini operating room and insisted that the men go back to their own quarters and sleep. After some argument Trip and the Captain had left but Reed stayed on as a kind of sentry.

Now it was four hours later and Reed still hadnâ€™t left Sickbay. Aside from a three hour long catnap down in the cells, he hadnâ€™t really been to bed since the night before the mission. That was roughly thirty hours ago, and despite his best efforts to seem alert, his fatigue was starting to show.

"Mr. Reed, you need to sleep. Go back to your quarters and get some rest, allow your own injuries to heal. I'll notify you as soon as she regains consciousness."

Reed didn't budge from his chair; he just sat there and slowly shook his head with a thoughtful look on his face. "She asked me to stay with her; I'm not leaving until she's awake."

"Depriving yourself of rest and nourishment will not help the ensign in any way." A logical Vulcan approach didn't seem to be working, nor was his usual Denobulan tack, but Phlox remembered an odd phenomenon heâ€™d seen among humans. They seemed fond of hypothetical situation and since none of his other ideas had worked Phlox decided that this one was worth a try.

"Mr. Reed, if Jean were awake which one of us do you think she would side with? I'm willing to let you stay in Sickbay, but only if you'll try to get some sleep on one of the biobeds." 

The ghost of a smile appeared on Reed's face and he nodded his agreement before resuming his vigil. "Thank you Doctor."

Phlox raised his eyebrows in frustration and inclined his head slightly before shaking his head and walking back to his console. There was just no reasoning with officers sometimes.


	10. Wisdom From A Fool

Sickbay, E Deck, 1420 hours, August 17 2151

When Commander Tucker entered Sickbay he headed straight to Jean's bed, which was still surrounded by the hanging curtains, without stopping to greet Phlox or ask for his permission. He anxiously pulled back the hanging curtains which separated her bed from the rest of Sickbay and the first thing he saw in the small make-shift room was Reed dozing in a chair next to Jean's bedside.

Trip took a step forward and called the man's name quietly. "Malcolm?"

No reaction. Twelve hours ago he and the Captain had left Sickbay. Since then each of them had bathed, slept, changed into clean uniforms and eaten, but it was obvious that Reed hadn't done any of those things. Stubble was beginning to show on his normally clean-shaven face, his clothes looked just as they had the night before, except now they were rumpled from being slept in. There was a dark red stain on Reed's shirt from when heâ€™d been carrying Jean and holding her so closely to himself that sheâ€™d bled onto his clothing. After so many hours, though, the red had turned brownish and started to give off a faint smell of dried blood.

But the only real difference between Reed's appearance now and the previous night was that now he seemed much more obviously disheveled and upset. Even asleep he looked worried.

Trip stepped outside of the curtains and went over to Phlox. The doctor was reading something but put it down when he noticed the younger man. "I'm sorry, commander, but there's been no change in her condition since last night."

The small hope which had been shoved to the back of his mind sputtered, but that wasn't what he wanted to talk about just then. "How long has Lieutenant Reed been here?"

Thinking about it, Phlox pursed his lips in disapproval. "Since last night. He hasn't left since the away team came in. I've asked him to leave but he refuses. Finally I agreed to let him stay if he got some sleep on a biobed."

"Thanks, doc. I figured as much." Trip shook his head. "Well he's sleepin' pretty soundly now in that chair of his. This'll be interestin'."

He went back through the curtains and approached the sleeping man. Reed really looked like he needed the rest but Trip knew he'd sleep much better in his own bunk, so after a brief moment of hesitation he reached out and lightly shook Reed's arm.

"Malcolm, wake up."

"Uhgn?"

_That's something, anyway._ "C'mon Malcolm. You need to wake up."

A few seconds later Reed was sitting upright in the chair and rubbing his eyes, trying to blink away his nightmare. It was something about having to give a speech at a funeral . . . He shook his head to clear it and then, almost automatically, he looked over at the biobed. The monitors were all beeping and showing the same displays as they had been earlier. He still couldn't make heads or tails of any of them, but he assumed it meant that her condition hadn't changed. Gradually he realized that someone had woken him up and looked over to see who it was. 

He stood up hastily, almost knocking over his chair in the process. "Commander. . I . . " 

Trip waved his hand to put the man at ease. "Phlox told me you've been here since last night. Look, Malcolm, right now there isn't anything any of us can do to help her. All we can do is give her time to heal and do the same for ourselves." 

Reed nodded but looked away from his superior. Not out of disrespect, but because he needed to see if Jean's condition had changed in the past minute or so. Some part of him knew that this was utterly ridiculous, but he still couldn't help doing it.

After waiting for Reed to turn back to him Trip softened and shook his head, looking frustrated, sympathetic, and concerned all at once.

"Malcolm, you're not the only one who's worried about her. D'you think this is any easier on me or the Capâ€™n? Usually when something on the ship gets broken, no matter what it is, you or me can just fix it. But using a hypo spanner or re-aligning somethinâ€™ won't help this time. Right now, the best thing we can do is let Phlox do his job, and that means following his advice about going to quarters and sleeping. Or eat somethinâ€™ first. Whatever you need to do, but don't go on the bridge or into the Armory 'til you've gotten some sleep. Is that clear?"

"Sir, I. . ."

"I don't want to make that an order, Malcolm, but I'll do it if I have to." The stern look on Trip's face showed how serious he was, so reluctantly Reed nodded again. He knew the commander was right, but. . .

Before Reed could voice his one protest Trip put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll take a shift watching her for a few hours and then there'll be someone else to relieve me. I've already got a few volunteers. She won't be alone, and whoever's shift it is when she comes to'll call you right away. But regardless I don't want you to set foot in Sickbay for the next eighteen hours. Understood?"

For the first time in what felt like months, Reed smiled. "Understood, sir, and request permission to have the shift which starts in nineteen hours."

Trip's smile matched Reed's tooth for tooth. "Granted. You have your orders, Lieutenant."

Reed left the curtained room and nodded to Phlox on his way out. "Goodnight, doctor" he managed around a yawn before he left Sickbay, making a bee line for his quarters. Trip settled into Reed's warm but now vacant chair and began his turn at the watch.


	11. A Restless Night

Sickbay, E Deck, 0537 hours, August 18 2151

â€œWhat. . .â€ her voice was a dry whisper before she broke out, coughing.

Someone helped her sit up a little and put a glass of water to her lips. She took a few grateful sips, swallowing the cool water greedily at first and then in steady gulps, as whoever held the glass didnâ€™t seem about to take it away from her. When the water was almost gone, she let her head sink back into the pillow with a softly murmured â€œthanks.â€

â€œDonâ€™t mention it.â€

She opened her eyes at the voice. Everything was hazy, bright. Too bright to tell where the shapes around her ended and people began. She looked around sleepily, squinting and trying to make her eyes focus on him. To focus on the source of the voice. Her eyes finally settled on a large, vaguely person-shaped blur that was hovering next to her bed.

â€œReed?â€

He eased her back down onto the bed, fluffing her pillow before he pulled his chair closer and sat down again. â€œNo. Sorry tâ€™ disappoint ya, but itâ€™s just me.â€

She let her heavy lids fall closed and nodded almost imperceptibly. That southern drawl was recognizable anywhere. â€œHey, Trip.â€

He leaned forward in his chair, smiling gently and feeling around for her hand. â€œHey yourself. How are you?â€

She shook her head, blinking slowly. â€œAlive, I guess. Sedated.â€ She tried to smirk, but her muscles were too lax to cooperate. _Correction; very sedated. What does Phlox have me on?_

â€œWhereâ€™s Reed?â€

Trip laughed quietly. Despite their marked differences, in some ways Jean and Malcolm were just like two peas in a pod. One of those ways was their single-minded concern for each other. â€œHeâ€™s in his quarters, probly sleeping.â€

â€œOh.â€

Trip thought that she didnâ€™t just sound tired, but disappointed, too. Disappointed that the lieutenant wasnâ€™t there. He twisted his mouth to one side. She should know that he had been there. After all, credit where creditâ€™s due, and the man deserved a fair amount of it.

â€œHe was sitting with you for a long time, but I took over so he could get some sleep.â€

She nodded, content with that explanation. She didnâ€™t need to know how reluctant Reed had been to leave. What she needed was sleep, and worrying about anything would most likely keep her awake.

â€œTell him I said â€˜hiâ€™.â€ She murmured to the pillow, nuzzling her face into it as she felt the painkillers tugging her back into unconsciousness. She cracked one eye open partway when the soft, warm weight of a blanket settled over her. Trip smoothed it over her shoulders, smiling when she sighed happily in reaction. He remained standing as he watched her drift back to sleep, a complicated look on his face. According to Phlox she would be alright, given time and plenty of rest, but he was unnerved by how quiet sheâ€™d been. No jokes, hardly a smile, and the most sheâ€™d said at once had been a paltry seven syllables. Despite the doctorâ€™s prognosis and his own normal optimism, he wouldnâ€™t be ready to celebrate her recovery until she started acting more like herself.

Once he was sure that she was deeply asleep, he stepped out of the privacy curtains and headed for the comm panel furthest from her bed. He had a message to relay.

â€œTucker to Lieutenant Reed.â€

Even if the man was sleeping, which seemed unlikely, experience had taught Trip that the Armory Officer was a very light sleeper, and if the past few days were any indication, he wouldnâ€™t mind answering this call.

The comm crackled quietly for a few seconds, then â€œReed here. Go ahead.â€

Trip looked back over his shoulder at the curtains around her bed, and then, wanting to make sure his voice wouldnâ€™t carry across Sickbay, he rested one arm on the wall above the comm panel and leaned his forehead against it. â€œSheâ€™s awake, Malcolm.â€

Nothing from the other end except what Trip interpreted as a very happy silence. â€œShe wanted me to tell you that she says â€˜hiâ€™.â€

A shorter happy silence, followed by â€œIâ€™ll be right there, sir.â€

Trip shook his head. _Typical._ â€œNo, Malcolm, you wonâ€™t. Youâ€™re banned from Sickbay until oh-nine hundred hours, remember? After that you can join the rotation. Understood?â€

â€œYes sir.â€

The reply was surprisingly subdued. Trip had expected the other man to at least argue the point with him. _Well, after a while fatigue and worry will take the fight out of anyone._ He couldnâ€™t help sympathizing with Reed. After all, he cared about her too, so he decided to soften the blow.

â€œSheâ€™s asleep again, Malcolm, so you wouldnâ€™t be able to talk to her anyway. She was only awake for a few minutes and she seemed out of it, but she kept asking about you.â€

This time the reply came quickly. â€œShe did?â€

Trip couldnâ€™t help smiling at Reedâ€™s surprised, happy tone.â€œYeah. When she first woke up she thought that I was you, an I think she was disappointed to find out I wasnâ€™t. I told her youâ€™d been here with her for a while but were gettingâ€™ some shuteye. â€œ

There was another pause from the other end, but this one sounded suspiciously like a badly muffled yawn. â€œThatâ€™s pretty much it, Malcolm. Iâ€™ll see you in a few hours, but in the meantime I think you should try to get some more sleep.â€

â€œAlright, suh- sir. Oh-nine hundred sharp. Reed out.â€

Both men shuffled away from their respective comm panels and back to their former posts; Trip stepped back inside the hanging curtains and Reed trudged over towards his bunk. The lieutenant stood there for a moment, contemplating his pillow and the rumpled blankets before lying down again.

When heâ€™s first gotten back to his quarters heâ€™d kicked off his shoes and fallen into bed without bothering to get undressed. For a few hours he slept soundly, but late in the evening his growling stomach had woken him up. He lay in his darkened quarters, too hungry to fall back asleep, but not quite awake enough yet to consider leaving the soft warmth of his bed. Just to pass the time, he tried to remember the last time heâ€™d eaten anything. 

_I had breakfast the morning of the mission, we snacked a little at that street fair, and I think the guards gave us some scraps when we were waiting in the cells. Have I had anything since?_

He turned, shifting position, and grit his teeth at the sudden, throbbing ache in his side. _Damned ribs!_

Crewman Cutler had said they werenâ€™t broken, only bruised, but they still hurt like the dickens when he tried to move. In the hours since he left Sickbay his sore muscles had stiffened up, too, and he had a nagging suspicion that sleeping in a chair hadnâ€™t helped matters. Slowly, carefully, he eased himself into a sitting position and shifted over to the edge of his bunk. For a little while he just sat there, gripping the side of his bedframe with both hands to keep himself upright and willing himself to stand up.

After a few minutes he nodded resolutely and got to his feet, holding one arm rigidly next to his sore ribs and blinking copiously to wake himself. His stomach growled again. It wasnâ€™t very loud, but the feeling of emptiness that accompanied it was astounding.

_â€˜Is your belly hollow?â€™_ He smirked, remembering his Novan jailerâ€™s question several months ago.

_Yes, yes it is. But Iâ€™ll pass on the digger meat this time._

He shuffled into the bathroom. On his way to the toilet, a ghostly, unkempt apparition in the mirror caught his eye. He stopped dead in his tracks, then went over to look more closely. _Dear God!_ The figure staring back at him was pale under itâ€™s messy, dark brown hair, which stuck out in odd little clumps and at strange angles. There were dark circles under the wide, shocked eyes, and rough stubble covered the lower portion of his face.

Reed shook his head slightly and blinked wide. His double did the same. _What were you expecting? That heâ€™d lean out of the mirror and hand over a razor?_

He heaved a deep breath, screwing up his face in a wince when his ribs complained. _Right then, get on with it._ He went over to the toilet and lifted the seat. Once he was finished, he flushed and washed his hands, all the time darting furtive glances at the mirror, hoping his reflection had improved. He wasnâ€™t surprised when it didnâ€™t.

_Right, Iâ€™ll shower, shave, and change into clean clothes. I canâ€™t very well leave my quarters looking like this. Then Iâ€™ll go to the Mess and grab something to eat._

He started to dry his hands on a towel, then shook his head. _Why bother?_ He undid the lacing at the neck of his shirt and carefully tugged the hem out of his pants before trying to pull the garment off over his head. It was halfway there when his hand accidentally brushed over his sore ribs, setting off fresh waves of pain.

_Damned, stupid, bloody planet!_

He stubbornly grit his teeth and yanked the shirt the rest of the way off, briefly entertaining the notion of flushing it down the toilet. He certainly never wanted to see it ever again. It reminded him too much of the mission, the blood stain especially. _No, it might clog a pipe somewhere._ He settled for balling the shirt up so that the stain was hidden and tossing it next to the sink before moving on to his belt.

He didnâ€™t have any trouble divesting himself of his belt or the pants, which he simply let fall onto the deck around his feet and then stepped out of. The belt was nondescript enough and it wasnâ€™t stained at all, heâ€™d keep it in his quarters until he could return it to the quartermaster along with the pants. He left the pants where they fell, then gently kicked them towards the main part of his quarters. Leaving them on the floor would drive him batty, but he was too sore to consider trying to pick them up. Getting out of his skivvies was no problem either; he kicked them into a pile with his pants and resolved to put them all down the cleaning chute when he could undress without wanting to curse.

One foot was in the shower when he glanced down at the supporting bandage Crewman Cutler had wrapped around his middle. _Damn. Canâ€™t get this wet. Iâ€™ll have to take the bloody thing off._ He stood there, shaking his head in displeasure until an idea hit him. He reached for the comm. panel by the shower stall.

â€œLieutenant Reed to Crewman Cutler.â€

A soft chirp answered his hail, followed by â€œCutler here. Go ahead, sir. What can I do for you?â€

Reed cleared his throat awkwardly. It had only just occurred to him that he was speaking to a female subordinate and he was totally naked. He swallowed nervously, then pushed aside his embarrassment and went ahead with his query. â€œCrewman, I was wondering. Those bandages you used on my ribs, do I need to take them off if I want to take a shower?â€

â€œNo sir, theyâ€™re waterproof. If you do decide to take them off, Iâ€™ll want you to come down to Sickbay so I can re-wrap them properly. Is that helpful, sir?â€

Reed nodded happily, allowing himself a faint smile. â€œYes, crewman. Thank you. Reed out.â€

He stepped the rest of the way into the shower and turned the water on, hot. For a few moments he just stood there, letting the water softly pound on his sore muscles. He let his head fall forward and breathed deeply, giving the water a chance to relax the muscles in his neck and shoulders. He was almost enjoying himself when his stomach rumbled. _Alright already. I get the idea._ He shook his head slightly, snapping himself out of his brief reverie, and reached for a washcloth. He worked some soap into a lather and set about washing his arms, chest and legs, leaving his back for last. When he was getting undressed heâ€™d noticed that it hurt to lift his left arm past a certain point, so he knew that heâ€™d need to limit his range of motion to what didnâ€™t hurt, which, unfortunately, meant that washing his back would be rather tricky.

As he continued using the soap, he noticed how much dirt and grime had already been rinsed off and was swirling around his feet.

_Lovely. And Iâ€™ve been this dirty ever since we came back on board._

He shook his head in mild disgust. Since he was still looking down, he started washing the area below the support bandage. It was wrapped too tightly for him to properly clean the skin underneath it, and he didnâ€™t like the idea of leaving part of himself filthy until the bandage came off, but he could still wash around it and he didnâ€™t really want to take it off. Besides, he was in less pain with the bandage than without it, and the idea of going down to Sickbay to have it re-wrapped didnâ€™t appeal to him in the least. Not to mention the fact that heâ€™d been banned from Sickbay until the next day. . .

_But does that include going there for treatment? Maybe I could ask Cutler toâ€“ no. Jeanâ€™s the only one who makes housecalls. And Iâ€™m not sure it would be appropriate for her to be in my quarters, especially when Iâ€™m perfectly capable of walking there on my own._

While heâ€™d been debating the matter with himself, heâ€™d finished washing every bit of his body except for his upper back. He slowly tried rolling his left shoulder. No pain. He smiled and experimented with washing the back of his neck using his left hand. There was a slight twinge when he first raised the arm, and he couldnâ€™t quite reach the right side of his neck, but otherwise the pain was minimal. He sighed and switched the washcloth to his right hand to finish the job. It was a bit of a struggle to wash his upper back with just one hand, but he managed.

Sometime later Reed noticed that heâ€™d been drifting off, so before he started to wash his hair he made the water a bit cooler, just to wake himself up. His sore muscles lodged a feeble protest, which he firmly ignored. It was important that he be fully awake now, before he tried to shave off his two days worth of stubble. Heâ€™d attend to his various aches later, after heâ€™d finished cleaning himself up and eaten a meal in the mess.

Once heâ€™d rinsed the shampoo out of his hair, he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower stall, grabbing a towel on the way. He dried his arms and then cautiously patted his chest and belly dry, somehow completing that task without provoking his aching ribs. He shook his head slightly, surprised that heâ€™d managed to do that, and felt a few drops a water land on his shoulders. _Right, thatâ€™s whatâ€™s next._

He scrubbed the towel over his head, roughly drying his hair. He soon realized that he was using the force heâ€™d restrained in drying his midsection, and that his general frustration and disgust at recent events was powering his actions. _Iâ€™d better make sure to not pull any of it out by mistake._ He abruptly stopped, his inherent caution coming to the fore again.

_What is wrong with you?_ He shook his head, absently letting the towel drop lower in his hands. _A dear friend of mine was stabbed yesterday, sheâ€™s still at deathâ€™s door, and I canâ€™t even be there with her. Thatâ€™s whatâ€™s bloody well wrong with me! And to top it all off, that vicious ass Rostin got away clean, last I heard._

Reed twisted the towel angrily, bunching it in his fists as his traitorous mind replayed the highlights of the away teamâ€™s stay on Chalderon. He watched, helpless, as Jean was carried off to god knows where. . . as he and Trip were â€˜questionedâ€™. Admittedly, it wasnâ€™t as brutal as it might have been, but it was still an experience he wasnâ€™t eager to repeat. Nevertheless, here he was in his bathroom barely 32 hours later, living it again.

Blood . . . pain . . . fear . . . anger . . . and, finally, anguished worry. He shook himself, trying to rid himself of the images floating through his mind. 

_Bloody hell, what I wouldnâ€™t give to be unconscious right now . . . No, then Iâ€™d be having nightmares. Big improvement, that._

He absently wrapped the towel around his waist and hissed in pain. Heâ€™d tucked the towel in right on top of one of his sore ribs. _Brilliant. I need to sleep, get my head together properly. Make sure I donâ€™t do that again._ He adjusted the towel slightly so it wouldnâ€™t hurt, stepped over to the mirror, and leaned forward, bracing his hands on either side of the sink.

_But Iâ€™m still worried. That part hasnâ€™t passed yet . . . and it wonâ€™t, either. Not until I can talk to her. Not until sheâ€™s awake. Not until I can see her smile._

He was still banned from Sickbay for another seven hours, so he couldnâ€™t see her until then, and he knew that waiting so long to see her again would be torture. Just sitting by her bed had helped to calm his worry. Watching the steady rise and fall of her breathing had been reassuring beyond words. Just knowing that she was so close, and that if anything should happen he could call Phlox over to fix it, had helped him keep a solid grip on himself. Now heâ€™d lost that, heâ€™d simply have to find another way to keep himself in check.

_The best way to pass the time is to just sleep_ , he reasoned. _But first I need to eat something in the mess, and to do that, Iâ€™ll have to be properly presentable._

He took out his razor without checking his reflection. Heâ€™d have to use the mirror to shave properly, but he still didnâ€™t like to see himself so unkempt. After a brief hesitation he switched on the shaver and lifted it to the corner of his jaw. It only took him a few minutes to shave, during which time he avoided looking at the main part of his reflection, and instead remained focused on just the lower portion of his face. He switched off the razor and carefully cleaned it of shavings before putting it away again.

Reed reached for a comb, put it down next to the sink, and then reluctantly looked at his reflection. 

He rubbed a hand over his face tiredly, making his nose bend slightly to one side as he ruefully contemplated his appearance. The hair just needed to be combed into place, and the stubble was gone. He was still pale from lack of sleep and a surfeit of worry, and even though the warm shower had brought some color back to his face, he knew that it probably wouldnâ€™t stay there very long. The circles under his eyes werenâ€™t less prominent than theyâ€™d been before, but theyâ€™d fade with time. And rest. If he could manage to get any . . .

He picked up the comb again and quickly ran it through his hair, trying desperately not to think of anything at all, because he knew that no matter what thoughts might pop into his head, something would remind him of her.


	12. In The Company Of Friends

Sickbay, E Deck, 1302 hours, August 18 2151

Four hours into his turn at the watch, Reed had two unexpected visitors.

"Malcolm, how is she?"

He turned around, surprised to see Commander Tucker and Captain Archer standing less than a meter away. He hadn't heard anyone come in, but admittedly his attention had been elsewhere. Not wanting to have the conversation so close to Jean's bed, he got up and went over to join the other officers.

"As far as I can tell her condition hasn't changed. To be honest, captain, I'm starting to get worried."

Trip and Archer shared an incredulous look. "Starting?"

Reed chose to ignore their obvious amusement and turned to face Trip.

"Commander, if you don't mind my asking, I'm curious about something you said down on the planet. You and the ensign mentioned having a history and I was wondering what you meant. . ."

Trip shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other and Archer stepped in to save his engineer from any embarrassment.

"Last year there was a bar near downtown San Francisco called the Blue Parrot where Trip and I would go sometimes, usually when the 602 was too crowded. Anyway, Jean worked there as a waitress, singer, bartender. . she did pretty much anything that needed doing. Sheâ€™d spend a lot of time talking to us whenever we came in and Trip always flirted with her. He never got anywhere with her, I think because his pickup lines were so awful."

Trip crossed his arms indignantly, turning to his captain with a look of wounded pride. "Cap'n, they weren't all _that_ bad."

"Yes they were, and he still has a crush on me over a year later."

Reed spun around in surprise, barely contained joy spilling across his features. "Ensign! When did . . . how long have you been awake?"

She shrugged slightly and smiled tiredly. "Just a few minutes. Your conversation was interesting, thought I'd listen in."

Her voice, which sheâ€™d managed to raise to almost a normal volume for her first comment, now dropped to a much quieter tone. In fact, the men had to come close to the bed in order to hear her properly.

The captain spoke first, asking her what all three of them were wondering. "How are you feeling?" 

She laughed softly to herself, but it was a humorless sound. "Lousy. Tired. Sore. I feel like a bruise with a head and I couldn't move if I wanted to try. But Iâ€™m alive."

"We were worried about you."

She gave Trip a knowing look and a small grin. "Did you really think you could get rid of me this easily?"

â€œWell, you know what an optimist I am. . .â€ Now that she was going to be alright he felt free to tease her. Unfortunately for Trip, she wasnâ€™t about to let him get away with it.

"Commander. . ."

"Yes, ensign?"

"Itâ€™s a good thing engineers donâ€™t need to have a good bedside manner, â€˜cause if they did weâ€™dve blown up months ago."

He grinned and shook his head, glad that she felt good enough to tease him. Still grinning widely, he turned and nudged the captain slightly. "Yep, she's back."

With his customary perfect timing, Phlox came through the curtains to stand behind the officers. He cleared his throat slightly, causing the officers to turn around and Jean to crane her neck trying to see him.

â€œGentlemen, Iâ€™m sure Ensign Olenick appreciates your concern, but she needs to rest. I must insist that you leave now.â€

â€œItâ€™s alright, mom. They can stay for five more minutes.â€ She raised her voice to a normal volume, but the men could all tell that doing it took a lot out of her.

Archer smiled and patted her arm gently. â€œWeâ€™ll get out of Phloxâ€™s hair and let you sleep. But if you need anything all you have to do is ask.â€

She smiled up at him and nodded. â€œThank you, sir. Trip?â€

The Commander stepped closer to hear her, since her voice had dropped back down to barely a whisper. â€œI canâ€™t believe there was a faster way to get back to Sickbay and you didnâ€™t tell me about it.â€

â€œOh? And what way was that?â€ His eyes were twinkling as he asked and he had to fight to keep from smiling. _Knowing her, this should be good._

â€œAll I had to do was click my heels three times and say â€˜thereâ€™s no place like home, thereâ€™s no place like home.â€™ â€

A smile broke out on his face as he repeated the last bit with her, shaking his head afterwards. â€œNow how could we both forget about â€˜the Wizard of Ozâ€™? Sweet dreams, Dorothy. Iâ€™ll look after Toto for you for a few days.â€

She smirked tiredly and nodded, but even the effort of doing that was enough to make her head sink back onto the pillow. â€œThanks Tin man. Try not to rust.â€

He shook his head once again and quickly kissed her on the forehead, stepping back from her bed afterwards. â€œListen to Phlox. Try to sleep.â€

Captain Archer and Trip were heading to the doors but Reed seemed reluctant to leave; he kept hovering near the curtains around her bed, finding little things to do so he'd seem busy.

"So . . . how long have you been here?"

He turned around slowly with a sheepish smile. "Hours."

"And Phlox hasn't kicked you out yet?" 

Another smile and a modest shrug as he came closer to her bed. "He's tried to a few times and he was successful once, with some help from Commander Tucker."

She thought before asking another question. "How long have I been here?"

His smile faded slightly. "Almost two days."

"You didn't have to stay, yâ€™know."

He sat down in his chair again after straightening her blanket. "I wanted to. . . I had to make sure youâ€™d be alright. Besides, I gave you my word, and I wanted to be here when you woke up."

She blinked sleepily and smiled. "Well, thanks for watching over me."

In the sizeable pause that followed, he saw her tense reflexively and then frown, seeming disappointed about something.

â€œSomething wrong?â€

Her eyes flicked up at him in surprise and then she shook her head slowly. â€œItâ€™s ridiculous.â€

â€œTell me anyway.â€ She sent him a desperate, almost pleading look. â€œI promise I wonâ€™t laugh at you.â€

Instead of answering right away, she fiddled with part of her blanket. It was a long minute before she said anything.

â€œI know that Iâ€™m safe in Sickbay. Rostinâ€™s men are all in custody on Chalderon and the guards canâ€™t hurt me anymore, but . . . I know it doesnâ€™t make any kind of sense, but Iâ€™m afraid that if I close my eyes theyâ€™ll come for me, and . . .â€

Reed felt his heart soften, even as his hands balled into fists. â€œTell me what to do. How can I help?â€ _Aside from decking those barbaric clots._

She chewed the inside of her lower lip, slowly raising her eyes to meet his.

_Odd, usually Iâ€™m playing the part of the uncooperative patient and sheâ€™s the one trying to cheer me up. It always seems so effortless for her â€“ Iâ€™ll just use one of her lines._

He leaned forward in his chair, resting elbows on his knees and looking at her earnestly. â€œA friend once told me that trust goes both ways. She was absolutely right.â€

Her left hand came out from under the covers. It extended towards him palm up, fingers twitching slightly in an invitation for his hand to join hers. A moment later his hand was holding her smaller one, giving a reassuring squeeze and coupling it with a smile to encourage her.

â€œI know itâ€™s silly, but dâ€™you think you could stay here . . . just until I fall asleep?â€

He squeezed her hand again, noticing how all the muscles seemed to relax as he nodded his agreement. â€œNo sooner said than done. Iâ€™ll stay as long as you want me to.â€

â€œThanks.â€ It was a barely audible whisper. She let her eyes close and the tension left her face.

Their companionable silence was very brief, as Phlox stepped through the curtains a few moments later and stood on the other side of Jeanâ€™s bed, glaring at Reed.

He practically hissed in annoyance, trying to be quiet so as not to disturb his patient.

â€œMr. Reed! I have been more than patient with you for the past few days but there is a limit. She needs to rest and I cannot allow you to stay here keeping her awake any longer. You can come back tomorrow for a short visit if you agree to leave Sickbay at once, but. . .â€

â€œPhlox . . â€œ her voice came out as a quiet croak but both men turned to look at her right away. She licked her lips and blinked drowsily when Reed filled a glass with water from a nearby pitcher and offered it to her, complete with a straw.

She nodded her thanks and put the straw between her lips, taking a few mouthfuls before she tried to speak again.

â€œHeâ€™s just staying â€˜til I fall asleep. Weâ€™re not talking or anything, promise. I asked him to stay â€˜cause I wanted some company. Wanted to know someoneâ€™d be right here, looking out for me.â€

Phlox looked at her, seeing his patient but also seeing a woman whoâ€™d been through a serious trauma and was seeking friendly comfort. He decided to relent. _After all,_ he reasoned _â€˜body and mind must both be cared for if a patient is to recover fully.â€™_

Having thus convinced himself, Phlox nodded slowly and deliberately. â€œVery well, lieutenant, you may stay until sheâ€™s fallen asleep, but I expect you to leave promptly afterwards.â€

Reed enthusiastically nodded his agreement and smiled more broadly than Phlox had ever seen him do in Sickbay.

â€œThank you, doctor. You have my word, Iâ€™ll leave straightaway.â€

Jean didnâ€™t bother to open her eyes all the way since it wouldâ€™ve been far too hard, so she merely cracked a narrow slit to see the doctor. â€œThanks, Phlox.â€

The slit closed when Phlox began to walk away and she conspiratorially whispered to Reed. â€œYou and I really are his â€˜problem childrenâ€™, arenâ€™t we?â€ There was a hint of laughter in her voice.

He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, feeling the smoothness of her skin. _Hard to believe that this hand saved my life, and with the same blade that very nearly killed her._

â€œShhh. We canâ€™t talk, remember? You need to fall asleep.â€

â€œSleep, right. That sounds good.â€ She pressed her cheek into the pillow, mumbling to herself as she continued to drift off.

A minute or so later a bit of hair came loose and fell across her face, twitching across her cheek and making her fidget. It was obviously annoying her, but she was too asleep to know how to deal with it, so Reed got up from his chair and silently stepped towards her bed. Being careful not to rouse her, he reached across the bed and tucked the hair behind her ear with surprising gentleness.

He didnâ€™t move for a few moments, wanting to make sure that he hadnâ€™t woken her. When she stayed still he relaxed, letting out a quiet breath which he hadnâ€™t realized heâ€™d been holding. 

_Well, sheâ€™s asleep and Iâ€™m standing up already. Best keep my word to Phlox, then._

He took another look, glad to see that she was sleeping peacefully. He gave her hand a final squeeze and then carefully uncurled his fingers from around hers, making sure that she was warm enough before leaving her bedside. He stopped and turned back to her just before he stepped through the privacy curtain, a relieved and affectionate smile drifting across his face.

â€œGoodnight, Matah Hari.â€


	13. Bargaining

Sickbay, E Deck, 0926 hours, August 21 2151

She blinked awake lazily and rubbed a hand across her eyes. The time display next to her pillow read 9:26am in soft green numbers. The clock wasnâ€™t standard Starfleet issue, sheâ€™d brought it from home because she was used to being on civilian time. Normally she wouldâ€™ve bolted out of bed and rushed around her quarters like a maniac if sheâ€™d woken up this late, but as it was she simply smiled and stretched. She pointed her toes towards the end of the bed and tensed the muscles in her knees and calves.

_â€˜Point and flex, and point and flex. . . â€˜_

Sheâ€™d never taken ballet, but whenever she stretched her legs she thought of some dance instructor saying that. Next she arched her back cautiously, trying to lift her butt off of the bed without causing her side to complain. It worked to a point and then a faint twinge told her _â€˜this is as far as youâ€™re going today.â€™_ Sighing, she lowered herself back onto the bed carefully and then started to stretch her arms and shoulders.

Her right arm, the one sheâ€™d rubbed her eyes with, rose up past her head easily and the fingers brushed against the status display screen above her bed, but for some reason the other arm wouldnâ€™t move. Puzzled, she looked down at her left arm to figure out what was wrong, and then smiled at what she saw.

Lieutenant Reed was sitting beside her bed and holding her left hand in his. When he saw that sheâ€™d noticed him he smiled and gently squeezed her hand. â€œGood morning.â€

She squeezed in response and smiled at him. â€œGood morning. Did you come to make sure that Iâ€™d wake up?â€

He smirked before putting on a mock-glare. â€œNow ensign, you know that you can never be too careful.â€

â€œYou can be too careful. You usually are when it comes to other peopleâ€™s safety, but as far as taking care of yourself goes you arenâ€™t nearly careful enough. You care about me, sir, and I really appreciate it. It means a lot to me. But I care about you too.â€ She put her free hand on top of his and smiled at him earnestly. His smirk faded away as he realized how serious she was.

â€œI care about you too, sir, very much, and Iâ€™d feel awful if you hurt yourself by trying to help me. I know you had a few bruised ribs and a mild concussion before the big fight, but I donâ€™t know whether or not you got hurt afterwards. Either way, you couldâ€™ve seriously hurt your ribs carrying me all the way to the pod. Trip or the captain couldâ€™ve carried me part of the way, so why didnâ€™t you want to let them help?â€

He looked down at the deck plating until she lightly pinched him. When he looked up again he seemed confused, like he was trying to sort through his thoughts in order to explain it to her properly.

â€œEnsign, I . . .â€ He trailed off, shaking his head and then looking away. She gently squeezed his hand and smiled at him encouragingly, nodding for him to continue. _Just tell her the truth. You can trust her._

â€œWhen we were down in the cells and those guards were . . . attacking you, I . . . I just wanted to protect you from them. You helped me a great deal on that mission last month, and since Iâ€™d recommended you for this mission I felt more responsible for your safety than usual. And then you were kidnapped and we all were captured and you got attacked and. . .â€

His voice tightened slightly as he spoke, the words becoming clipped as he got angrier. She chewed lightly on the corner of her lip, looking at him worriedly for a second before she freed her hand and started to run it up and down his arm.

He smiled at the touch and cleared his throat uneasily before continuing. He wasnâ€™t sure exactly why he was telling her this. It was true, certainly, but normally he wouldâ€™ve kept these thoughts to himself. _I suppose Iâ€™m beginning to really trust her, to be comfortable around her._

â€œI wanted to make certain that no one else would hurt you, so before Captain Archer came to let us out of the cell I swore to myself that Iâ€™d protect you until we were back on Enterprise. But then you were hurt during the fight. . .â€

He got a distant look in his eyes as he replayed the moment in his head, trying to see if there was something else he could have done to prevent it. He looked at her piercingly. â€œI wanted to be certain that nothing else would happen to you until we reached the ship.â€ His gaze faltered and he looked away again. â€It was easier to do that myself.â€

When he was finished he looked away again. â€œIâ€™m s- â€œ

Suddenly her hand tightened on his arm and she looked at him reprovingly. â€œDonâ€™t even _think_ about apologizing for that. You saved my life and Iâ€™m very grateful. I just donâ€™t want you to get hurt either. I want to make sure that youâ€™re safe and happy whenever both are possible.â€ The hand on his arm became gentle again and her expression softened after he nodded.

She studied him carefully. â€œSo you really wouldâ€™ve been upset, if . . ?â€

He looked over at her sharply for a second before focusing on the deck again, knowing what she meant without needing to hear the rest. _Does she really need to ask?_ He nodded thoughtfully in answer, trying hard to keep his voice steady.

â€œYes. I would have been very upset if that had happened.â€ The words were sincere but rigid with disappointing formality. However, when he looked up and she saw the pained expression on his face she positively melted.

_He really is such a sweet man. Such a mentsh._ She shook her head. â€œCome here.â€

He looked up at her, confused, but aside from that he didnâ€™t move.

â€œCome hereâ€ she repeated, her voice gentle but firm. He hesitated but stood up, coming closer until his legs touched the edge of the bed. She sat up slightly and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, holding him close to herself.

â€œHey. Iâ€™m safe. And I promise, Iâ€™m not going anywhere.â€

He returned the hug gratefully as she spoke over his shoulder, leaning her head against his. â€œYou did save me, sir, and youâ€™ve been taking very good care of me this whole time. Iâ€™m not sure how to repay you.â€

His hands on her back felt warm and comfortingly strong, like they were assuring her that they wouldnâ€™t allow anything bad to happen to her. She tightened the hug slightly and kissed his cheek before letting him go.

The kiss caught him off guard, but it wasnâ€™t unpleasant. When his mind registered it as being enjoyable he brought himself up short. _Sheâ€™s your colleague and your friend, nothing more. Snap out of it._

He cleared his throat uncomfortably and helped her to settle back against the pillows with a wry grin. â€œWhoâ€™s comforting whom here?â€

She shrugged. â€œItâ€™s kinda ambiguous . . . So. .â€œ there was an awkward pause after he sat down in his chair.

â€œAre you back on active duty?â€

â€œYes, actually. Phlox still wants me to take it easy but yesterday he cleared me for afternoon shifts in the Armory and on the Bridge. Says I should be sleeping in to let myself heal.â€ He laughed shortly, shaking his head. â€œI suppose you can guess how well thatâ€™s working out.â€

She nodded and smiled sympathetically. â€œAlmost every time Iâ€™ve woken up during the past few days youâ€™ve been here, usually dozing in that chair.â€ Her smile became a mischievous smirk. â€œWhy donâ€™t you just move into Sickbay and save yourself the trouble of having to come here everyday? Iâ€™d like having a roommate who doesnâ€™t live in one of Phloxâ€™s cages.â€

He shook his head at her and chuckled. â€œSomehow I donâ€™t think that would work out too well, but itâ€™s not a bad idea. Armory reports have been accumulating on my desk for the past few days and Phlox has no objection to me catching up on my paperwork, provided that I stay in my quarters or the Mess to do it.â€

One of his hands had been running up and down his thigh nervously, waist to knee, knee to waist, while he spoke. When he was finished his hand became a fist and gently but decidedly tapped the arm of the chair as he stood up. â€œI should get started on those reports.â€ He started to leave but then turned back to her guiltily. â€œIâ€™ll come back to see you later today.â€

â€œMaybe you could join me for dinner? Eating alone is bad enough, but eating alone in Sickbay is downright depressing.â€ She smiled at him hopefully.

He nodded slowly. _It isnâ€™t a date. She just wants some company because sheâ€™s been stuck in bed in Sickbay for a week._ â€œDinner it is, then. Iâ€™ll bring you a tray of whatever Chef is serving.â€ 

â€œYum, my favorite.â€ No reaction at all. She shook her head in frustration. â€œSeriously, sir, would it kill you to smile more often?â€

â€œI laugh when jokes are good or funny. That one was neither.â€ He tried to keep a straight face but one corner of his mouth twitched and gave him away. Before he could really start laughing he turned and headed for the door, throwing over his shoulder â€œIâ€™ll see you this evening at 1800 hours for dinner, ensign.â€

After the door closed she turned slightly on the bed, trying to make herself comfortable. It was nearly impossible, considering the way the biobeds had been designed, not to mention the fact that there were only a few ways she could position herself without her side throbbing painfully. Finally, she settled for lying partly on her left side and partly on her belly. She pushed her head into the pillow tiredly and slid her arm underneath it. It wasnâ€™t all that comfortable, not nearly as nice as her own bed, but she was tired enough to not mind settling for a nap in the drafty Sickbay.

"How are you feeling, ensign?"

She wasnâ€™t sure how much time had passed since Reed had left, but now Phlox was standing near her bed and tilting his head at her in a quizzical, almost bird-like way.

"Better than yesterday, I guess. Iâ€™m not as sore and sitting up is a lot easier, but if I sit up too quickly I get dizzy. How about you Doctor? How do you like having me as a houseguest?"

"I always enjoy having some company, since, as you know, Sickbay is empty most of the time, but I prefer having you as a collegue. Are you still tired?"

She nodded "Not as much as I was before. I think I might be ready to go back to my quarters soon. . "

She trailed off when Phlox gave her an especially stern look and lowered his medical scanner, but she dropped the subject so he didn't say anything. He began to walk away from her bed and back over to his workstation. She waited until he was halfway there before chancing the question.

â€œMaybe youâ€™d consider releasing me to my quarters tomorrow?â€

Phlox turned and fixed her with a look, his hands folded and his lips pursed tightly, but he didnâ€™t say anything. She took this as permission to elaborate on the question.

â€œMaybe if someone would check in on me a couple times each day, and you could bring me food and change my dressings. . . well, could that work?â€

Phloxâ€™s expression softened a tiny bit, which gave her some hope, but then he shook his head and sighed in such a way as to let her know that his patience was wearing thin. â€œWeâ€™ll see, ensign. Weâ€™ll see.â€

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Kylie Lee, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Warp 5 Complex](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Warp_5_Complex), the software of which ceased to be maintained and created a security hazard. To make future maintenance and archive growth easier, we began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016.


End file.
